December 30, 2013

Why hello there, Mom!

 

Good news! We're allowed to Skype home on New Years!!! Just kidding ;)

 

Anyway, yes, Grandma sent me 2 McDonald's gift cards and Sister Clark doesn't want hers so I might not be using them very soon.

 

So the other Sharp family, the wife was once a Godfrey if that helps you to know who they are, Will Sharp's brother and sister-in-law, were at our Sacrament meeting yesterday! It was hilarious.They said, "is your dad really tall and funny?"  I showed them the picture I took of you and they got all excited! They didn't recognize me and I didn't recognize them, but it was funny to say, "we went to Havasupai with them, but you weren't there, were you?" "Yeah, I was there! We totally went on vacation together!" Weird connections :)

 

Thanks for letting us practice teaching you on Facebook. We learned a lot on what we need to do better, what works, and what we want to try next. For the Mormon.org profiles, can you all put "Tolley" as one of the key words so I can follow up with you next week? You don't need to answer that in an email, I will know if you did it when I can find your pages!

 

I learned a lot this week. I got a little depressed on Friday because it marked 10 months I've been out. I did a lot of reflecting this weekend and made a lot of goals. I'm really sad that I only have 8 months left and I hope I can work even harder with what I have left. It's like what we say in soccer, "leave it all on the field." Soccer field, mission field, I'm grateful for that lesson.

 

My testimony increased this week on the importance of Church attendance. As a missionary, I look at all the things people are and aren't doing; reading the scriptures, praying, coming to Church, living the commandments, etc. Everyone else who isn't a missionary only sees one thing; Church attendance. What makes a person "active" in the Church? Whether or not they come to Church. There could be someone who comes every single week and goes to all the activities, but doesn't pray or read every night. To everyone, that person is an active member. I know that there are so many other important things that need to be done in order for people to be converted besides just coming to Church, but I really learned the true importance of just that this week. I'm not saying that I don't think people should read or pray anymore, but coming to Church is what will prove their conversion! If a person can't get themselves to Church every week and aren't willing to try, how can they ever keep covenants with the Lord? We invited several people to Church on Saturday and all during last week, and yesterday none of them made it. One lady is less-active and lives RIGHT NEXT DOOR to the Church but hasn't come in over a year. We invited her and she said she definitely would because she could tell by our many times asking that we really do love her and want her there. When she didn't come, I literally cried right there during the Sacrament hymn. My brothers and sisters need to be there with me every week! And preparations for helping people to come to Church begin at 11:00 on Sunday, right as Church is getting out. I pray we will be seeing them there next week.

 

Well, I love you a lot! Could you send me my/a white handkerchief sometime? Probably with the package you send me for my birthday, if you are doing that. If you're not, I would like you to send me the hankie by itself then :)

 

Thanks! Love you! Miss you!

 

-Kady

December 23, 2013

I figure since I will be talking with you on Wednesday, I will just share with you my testimony today :)

 

But first, I am very grateful to you and Dad for having made the decision to be faithful members of this Church. It has been an outstanding blessing in my life to have always had the gospel as a part of my life. It's amazing to know that I have ALWAYS known that I am a daughter of God who loves me and desires my return Home, and that I have a Savior who has made it possible for me to do that. I owe so much of my conversion to your examples and your nurture. I would have had a much slower start if I had been born to anyone else, and I am forever grateful for your righteousness and the righteousness of our family.

 

I am so grateful for our Heavenly Father. I know that He knows me. It's amazing how recognizing the little things in life can show how close He really is. He is fully invested into my life! And the lives of all of His children! I know that He has given us everything and continues to give. I was reading in Mosiah chapter 2, as you may know by keeping up with my Facebook page, and it is so true; we are eternally indebted to Him, because He never stops giving! I know that He loves more than I can ever love Him in this life, but I want to try to love Him more every day by keeping the commandments and learning the doctrine that He has given us to study and follow.

 

I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him might not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16. Christ came to this earth, suffered, died, and completely sacrificed Himself...for me. For us! That's a lot of trust that we gave to Him in the beginning. I know that I wouldn't have signed up for this if there was NO WAY for me to stand back up after being "fallen." Heavenly Father would never send us to this earth if there was no way for any of us to return again! Jesus Christ did for us what no one else can. And I know that He continues to do everything He can for us! He is laboring in the vineyard with His servants! I'm not very eloquent and am not very good at expressing my feelings, but I know with my whole soul that Christ lives, that He loves us, and that He desires our salvation.

 

I stand by Joseph Smith. I know that he saw what he said he saw. My loyalty lies with Joseph Smith, and also with President Monson. I will defend them and stand up for them, and whatever prophets of the Latter-Days precede them further, for the rest of my life! I've read the Book of Mormon, I now read the Book of Mormon, and I will never stop reading it, because I know that it is true. A book that having read even a small part of it, that changes my entire life, whether in small ways or large ways, cannot be false. The Book of Mormon has literally changed my life! It has changed my life many times and is helping me to be molded into the covenant keeping, commandment keeping, follower of Christ that I desire to be. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is without argument the Lord's only and true Church. I am so grateful to be part of it!

 

My testimony isn't very deep, but it's mine, and I hope it can continue to increase as I share it with my brothers and sisters every day.

 

It's not too cold, and I didn't buy a coat. I'll probably call you Wednesday afternoon sometime. Let's say around 1:00 or 2:00!

 

Love you!

 

-Kady

December 17, 2013

Hey Mom :)

 

Yep! I got my package :) Thank you very much! And you can definitely keep that ornament this year!

 

I'm glad to hear Grandma is doing okay. I will probably Skype you on Christmas, just because I want my Christmas to be special. If I don't do that, it might be a really lame day. We have a few breakfast and dinner appointments for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but we have to stay home otherwise. So I will be sitting around and studying all day except when I Skype you. I guess I'll do it in the afternoon so you can open all your presents first? Oh, maybe in that case I should call you on Christmas Eve... Yeah! I think I'll do that! Would it be okay if I Skyped you on Christmas Eve at a time when Kelly isn't likely to call you?

 

And I would like to go home by plane when the day comes :)

 

Yep, we have a Denny's pretty close to us, I think there's one in the area! I'm not so sure I'll be eating their Hobbit food though, ha :)

 

Thanks for keeping me updated with camping and soccer and puppies and all that :) I really do mean it!

 

Sundays are good.  We have to get up early though :( We have a meeting at 7:00 am and our Sacrament meeting is at 8:00 am. It makes me pretty sad. I'm still trying to figure out how to get to know the members! We only see them once a week for 3 hours and I guess I'm still used to seeing everyone every day at the Welcome Center and them having time for us and all that.  We've had a lot of practice on what not to do, so now we can try again to get to know the members the right way :)

 

Tomorrow is transfers.  SURPRISE! Sister Clark and I are staying here :) I'm glad because I feel like I can redeem myself! I don't think I've been struggling or anything, but I'm excited to start this transfer working a lot harder than I have. Please don't think I've been lazy, but I do want to try and focus on my goals for the area and for the people and for myself. I expect great things from this transfer.

 

This week was great! On Tuesday we had a Christmas Conference.  We spent the morning from 9-1 being edified by music and talks and year-wrap-up slideshows. Then we went down to the Mesa temple! We did a session and then walked around the visitor's center with all the lights and nativities :) I have to say, I never have craved the temple more in my life. My heart longs to go back! I might not get to again until I go home, but I am serious about going every week. There's no way I can live 5 minutes from the temple and not go as often as I can! For a few days, I really felt changed by my experience. I had a glimpse of the person that I want to be, and need to be, to reach my fullest potential as a disciple. I've been praying and pleading to keep that same Spirit with me that I had at the temple, but as I knew I couldn't, I've already forgotten! I can't live another week without going to the temple. I hope I can keep that goal throughout my life.

 

Something that I learned this week was the importance of a Junior and Senior companion.  Sister Clark and I have had some struggles because we were both trying to let the other person lead.  The Lord has asked me to be the Senior companion because someone needs to be the leader.  We had a terrible companionship study the other day! We got nothing done and it was so frustrating. I couldn't understand why it was such a waste of time. Then Sister Clark told me that she needs me to step up and lead the companionship more. So I tried it the next day and our companion study was excellent! We did everything that we needed to in sufficient time! There's a difference between letting someone give their opinion or doing what someone else wants to do, and being completely and inappropriately submissive.  I only submit my will to the Lord. And His Will is often that I do what Sister Clark suggests, but someone needs to say "this is what we're doing" and own it. So that's something that I'm working on this week. It's crazy because sometimes I forget that she's only been out for 4 months and needs me to lead her and show her what works. A lot of changes will be happening in the next couple of weeks!

 

I learned today in my personal study that every contact needs to include an invitation.  Sister Clark and I have tried to talk with everyone.  I learned how to make it better today! We need to invite people to act, whether it's to take the discussions, come to Church, read the Book of Mormon, pray, or anything like that, because if we're not, we're not letting that person have the opportunity to repent.  The Lord commands all of us to cry repentance unto our neighbors and brothers and sisters. The way to do that is to invite them to do something.  Invitations allow them to change and be better, which is repentance! That's another goal I have.

 

Well, I love you a lot! I'll see you next week :) :) :)

 

Love you so so so so so much!!!!

 

-Kady

December 9, 2013

Hey Mom :)

 

I don't like ugly dogs.

 

Yes we watched the broadcast :) We went to the Stake Center for it.  I liked it, but I wasn't really in the right mood to feel the Spirit. It was my fault, I wasn't cranky or anything, just out of it, I guess.

 

People were telling me today the Highs in Utah, and it made me really sad. 50 degrees feels SO SO SO SO SO COLD! But I guess I just forgot what cold really feels like. I'll stop complaining :)

 

There is nothing to "sight-see" in my mission...it all looks like Murray. So for P-Day we mostly just shop and clean and write letters and eat food.  But today was one of our zone leader's last P-Day of his life, so he wanted us all to go bowling.  It was pretty fun :) That's why I'm emailing you back pretty late! I was on a "team" with a sister named Sister Neary, and she and I bowled 100! That was a personal best for both of us even though it doesn't really count! It was funny :)

 

Okay, here's the letter part :)

 

This week was great :) We had another baptism for another mother and son :) I love these people so much! We have a lot of work to do to get anyone else ready for baptism. We have some investigators who are SO READY! but they just have to work out their singular but major issues.  Solid! But not progressing.  It's rough.  But we love it and are coming up with all sorts of new ideas to move the work along!

 

My relationship with Brittany is improving.  {She named her bicycle} I can't say that I hate her anymore.  And she hasn't hurt me in awhile.  I think we're getting used to each other.  I would hope to one day be able to sell her to someone else, but for now, she and I are getting along okay.  I'm not as sore or tired as I used to be! But I have to say, helmets tend to ruin my day.  Not really, that was an exaggeration! But it's either hat hair or helmet hair, every day.  Good thing I don't care that much, except when it breaks like crazy! Nope, don't care.

 

I feel like I have become more ridiculous than I have ever been before.  I say the most absurd things and am always laughing like a crazy person. I don't know what's wrong with me! But every day is a great day and even though I'm really loud and call attention to myself whether I mean to or not, people are coming to Christ.  I think it's interesting that the Lord blesses us with our personalities to share the gospel in our own ways.  I would stress out so much wishing I was soft-spoken with a quiet, kind voice who was nice and smiled pleasantly all the time.  But then I accidentally became more loud and the complete opposite of what I'd hoped to be.  But anyway! The Lord knows all of His children! He can put two people in the same place who have the right thing in common to have the right conversation to help them come unto Him.  I know that can be true for everyone.  We have all been given Spiritual Gifts to be used to build the Kingdom, and sometimes all we need to do to use those gifts is to open our mouths and talk to the person that the Lord has placed beside us.  I know that when Elder Ballard said that we can all reach out to the "one" and bring them to SOMETHING by Christmas, he meant all of us.  I know that that means that the Lord can perform this miracle through ALL OF US!

 

Sorry my letter is short this week.  I love you so much and can't wait to see you on Christmas! You're amazing and I am forever grateful for all you've done for me.

 

Until next week!

 

-Kady

December 2, 2013

Sheesh! That is quite the story about your weekend. I'm so glad you decided to take your car! You know what it was? It was because Kelly and I are on missions that you drove a separate car. I'm serious. The Lord is protecting you! {talking about Anna Adams' car accident on 'Black Friday' where I was following in my own car..Everyone was fine, thank goodness.  Well...except for both cars involved in the accident.}

 

Transfers are on December 18th, actually.  And I have no requests for Christmas.  In fact you can just send me a funny card that sings if you want and that would be just fine:)

 

So we had a pretty good week.  We didn't teach a lot of lessons, but we set up some appointments for this week.  We just mostly used our time getting organized, I think.  So this week and the rest of our time together, Sister Clark and I will be getting a lot of things done just because we've figured out a system! That's good, right :)

 

We have a baptism this week for our friend, E, and her son, T :) We're really excited about it.  There were some obstacles in their way, but they are SO ready to go now :)

 

I have been reading the Book of Mormon for my Liken page on Facebook, as you know. I've been reading one of those blue handout copies and have been marking it different for Liken.  It's incredible the insights I'm getting as I read this way! I will read one or two pages once to mark where it mentions Deity in whatever form it is written, blessings from God, and curses or bad consequences.  Then I read it again looking for the five principles of the Doctrine of Christ, not counting the atonement because I look for that when I'm reading the first time.  Then I read it a third and last time and mark the things that stand out particularly related to me. I have never gotten so much out of the scriptures in my life! It's incredible the things that I'm learning.  When Sister Clark and I bring our studies together, I could take up the whole hour telling her what I learn from the Book of Mormon! I really feel that Liken is inspired and I will keep doing it until I go home, but I want to try to get more people on board.  Not a lot of people are participating, I don't think, but I want people to learn as much as I'm learning! I'll ponder on ideas to help people read with me.

 

There have been so many miracles happening this week.  Less-active members just come up to us and admit that they're members! We are finding so many people to bring back.  Not to mention, we have lists of names of people who we have visited who want us to come back that we can get to investigate this week! I want to tell you specifics, but we only have one computer to work on today and Sister Clark already had her turn so she's waiting for me and it's stressing me out.  I wrote it all in my journal so one day I can read my experiences to you :)

I think it will be easier for me if instead of me coming to the computer to try and come up with things to write if I had specific things to write you.  Do you want me to just write my most spiritual experience of the week, funniest story of the week, craziest story of the week, and best thing I learned, or something like that? Or it might be good if you asked me some specific questions.  I feel like I never have anything to say....but I do! I just don't know what to say.  And it makes my letters really lame.  I'm sorry.  I want to be better but it's stressing me out! No, actually Sister Clark waiting for me is stressing me out....

 

Anyway! Sorry, I do feel way bad about how terrible my letters are.  I want to just throw this away and try again but I don't have any time! I'm sorry :(

 

Love you so much! Have a good week! Please stop telling me to "be good!"

 

-Kady

Okay, I actually have more time :)

 

So today! Sister Clark and I went to the dollar store just for because, and on our way back I saw a man with a walker trying to get up the curb to get to the mailboxes. So I asked Sister Clark if we could go back and see if we could help him.  Most people say no and we wish them a good day and turn around, but he said we could help him! He had Parkinson's, I think, so he gave me his key and I opened the box then I handed him his mail.  Sister Clark cleaned out his walker and put it back in his trunk for him.  I just think it's amazing how that act of service had nothing to do with the fact that we are missionaries.  Anyone could have helped him! And anyone should have! I just love the idea of giving Christlike service to everyone for the rest of my life.

 

Last Monday was really fun! We went over to our Recent Converts's house and taught them about Family Home Evening.  It was my first FHE in a family ward :) There's a cute 4-year-old in the family who is really crazy but funny and he was sitting by me and helping me to draw the Plan of Salvation as our FHE lesson.  He's one who tries to get my attention the whole time we're there, so afterwards sometimes I will play rock-paper-scissors with him or whatever.  I also punch him in the head sometimes.  He thinks it's funny but it made him really mad on Monday! So he went to play with Sister Clark.  I'm a bully I guess haha :) OBVIOUSLY I didn't punch him hard, I was just teasing! But the family is amazing and I love them all so much! The son who was baptized is 14 and he always gives me attitude and dirty looks! He's just goofing around, but I like that we're all comfortable together :)

 

My friend, Soraya, from Flagstaff was at Church on Sunday! I guess she knows a family in the Glen Lakes ward! It was crazy and unexpected! But really good to see her.  I love her so much! It helped me to remember one of my goals which is to try to love the people in Glen Lakes as much as I loved the people in YSA 1 and 2. Loving the people really does make all the difference.  Sometimes you serve because you love them, sometimes you love them because you serve them, but it isn't service if there's no love, nor is it love if there's no service! I just made that up.

 

You can merge these two letters together if you want, before you send them or post them or whatever you do :) and you can use Soraya's name, I think she'll like it if she sees it :)

 

LOVE YOU SOOOOOOO MUCH! And miss you :)

 

-Kady

November 25, 2013

Oh, hello :)

 

So! People SERIOUSLY exaggerated Phoenix winters.  I was thinking it would be in the 70s or 60s at the worst, but last week was FREEZING! I guess we had the worst storm Arizona has ever had? It just rained for 3 days, more like a constant drizzle, but it was sooo cold...It was probably just that cold because I wasn't expecting it, and I left my boots and coat in Flagstaff for the Sisters that are there to be nice.. So I've been layering and wearing lots of cardigan sweaters on top of each other! On Saturday it was so cold that Sister Clark and I went to the Starbucks in Target and got hot chocolate and bought knit hats to wear under our helmets to stay warm! It was very cold on Saturday. But it's pretty nice today! The sun is out! And people say it shouldn't be that cold that often...but I don't know how much I trust what people say about the weather anymore. They say that the summers "aren't that bad" when they're deathly hot and that the winters "are really nice" when they are actually like a typical winter.  But I'm not complaining! It's not snowing at least and probably won't at all :)

 

So I still haven't bought any garments.  I will probably do that right now while I wait for your email.  I think I'm going to go with the DriLux :)

 

Did you send that letter to Kelly? She didn't give me her Korean address so I was hoping you could send it for me :) You could probably just scan it and email it to her instead if you want, I don't care :)

 

So I often spend some time in the mornings pondering as I run on the treadmill in our apartment's gym. Today I was thinking about the relation between Spiritual Strength and Physical Strength.  When you diet and eat healthy, it does you a lot of good.  It also does you a lot more good when you exercise every day.  When you exercise and don't eat very healthy, exercising can be more painful than necessary.  I like to think that's the same way Spiritually!  When we study and learn and grow in the Spirit, it does us a lot more good when we exercise our faith.  The inward action is justified by the outward action.  Then I was thinking about when people eat too much and exercise to little.  Maybe they are eating really healthy foods! But when they aren't exercising, the food they eat isn't doing much good for them anymore.  When we grow our testimony, it doesn't do us very much good to hold it inside.  There can be really spiritual people who don't exercise their bodies or diet well, and there are people who exercise and diet regularly but aren't very spiritual.  I think the best balance is of people who exercise their bodies and their faith equally, and who are on a physical and spiritual diet :) I know this is getting weird, but I was also thinking about "spiritual diets," like, "oh no, I can't [watch that movie, listen to that music, go to that place], I'm on a diet." :) haha! From all this I have decided that I need to eat better and take exercise more seriously...and to bear my testimony more :)

 

Anyway! We had a baptism this weekend :) It was for our friends Maribel and Angel :) mother and son :) They're amazing! It's such a beautiful thing to see family getting baptized together. I was used to just baptizing individuals and not expecting to even meet their parents.  2 out of 4 baptisms in Flagstaff their families didn't even come at all.  I really am loving Glendale a lot :) The bike is NOT getting better.  I don't like Brittany, she is not my friend.  But those sleeves that Dad sent me are amazing! What a great idea!

 

Well, I love you a lot and I hope everything is well for you at home! Thanks for the email :) Sorry I made you rush! I love you sooo much and hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving!  Sorry these are always so short.

 

Love and miss you!

 

-Kady

November 18, 2013

Hey Mom.

 

I guess I will start with the story of the week.  So I've been borrowing another sister's bike for the past couple of weeks.  On Saturday they brought MY bike over from the mission office, finally ready to ride.  I decided to use the borrowed bike one more time, pretty much out of laziness because when I was done with it I would just hand it to the zone leaders and wouldn't have to take any bike up the stairs that night :) But here's what happened.  So we were on the wrong side of a busy street and had to go down a block to use the crosswalk. I pulled out the phone to see if there was a quicker way (while riding) and saw only one way to go.  I was putting the phone back in my bag when I saw that the curb didn't come down to allow people up onto the sidewalk.  I had about 1 and a half seconds to decide what to do and saw that a little ways up the sidewalk was a driveway I could go up.  I also saw that there were cars coming in front of me and that there was no shoulder except for the 8 inch gutter.  So I went for it quickly.  I didn't realize until I got there that the driveway still had an edge that was an inch high.  My tire got stuck on it sideways and I fell into the sidewalk.  Somehow I turned and saved the phone! But I scraped up my knees and the tops of my feet and hurt my other wrist that wasn't holding the phone and my elbow.  And I bruised my hip, but that might have been because of a different time.  We continued on and as we were going home after a few visits I looked down to notice that the reason it had suddenly gotten harder to pedal was because the front tire was flat. Good thing that was my last day using that bike! So we began walking our bikes the 12 blocks home. Sister Clark looked at her watch and said, "we're going to be late." So I said, "then let's pick up the pace!" and we started walking faster.  Sister Clark is 4'11" so she has short legs.  So we had a new idea; I would walk fast and she would ride behind me!  It worked out pretty great, we got home with 10 minutes to spare!  But on the walk home, my shoes and socks fell off...so I walked about 4 blocks barefoot.... This bike thing is causing me a lot of problems.  On Friday I was coming off the curb and my shoe fell off again and the pedal smacked my shin!  I also walk around with black marks from the chain every day and the helmet causes breakage to my hair in the middle of my head :( I really dislike riding the bike.  It's sad, too, because I was finally starting to have a good attitude about it and then all this happened. I really hope that I get transferred to a car area some day.  More and more sisters are on bikes though....but maybe I could be the one who ends bikes for everyone!

 

We have two investigators who had their baptism interview last week.  They're mother and son :) They will be baptized this Saturday at 12:30! I'm so excited :) They are really sweet and I love them already! Coming into a new area with a companion who is also new to the area isn't as hard as I thought it would be.  Not because we have some baptisms coming up, but because we have adjusted so well already!  We don't know the members very well, yet, but we've been focusing on the nonmembers and less-active members which I think is almost better because they're the ones we NEED to focus on anyway! Life is good, except for the bike...

 

Our Zone Leaders are over the YSA ward in our stake so we don't work with the YSA at all which makes me sad :( Working in a family ward I thought would be SO DIFFERENT! But it's not really.  I think because I gained so much confidence talking with and approaching people my own age prepared me to be in a family ward where it could be a little more intimidating.  But it's not :) I thought it would be! I was thinking about how it would be hard to teach someone who is way above me in experience or the pressure of trying to teach simply to children, but it came so easy!  I think it's because the gospel is the same for everyone...or something like that.  The transition was actually kind of weird.  I feel like from day to day I don't remember my yesterdays and it doesn't occur to me that there will be a tomorrow.  Maybe that's a blessing.  I feel like I can't even remember what it's like to be home with all of you, and I actually can't remember what it's like in Flagstaff...I have no memories! It's really weird.  Everything goes into storage and I can only remember vague, translucent fragments of my life before today.  I kind of like it, though.  I'm not going to try to break it.  I'm sorry if that was weird.

 

We had a Mission Tour this week where Elder Teh of the Seventy came to give us some training! It was great! I learned so much! I wrote to Dad a little bit of what I've been thinking about, about being a Member Missionary. Maybe if he's nice he'll let you read it :) But one thing I have been trying to focus on is learning to use my online resources more efficiently.  I have some ideas but they're pretty vague. I want to be better at using the tools that I have been given, especially because the Lord is testing some of these things out with us. I want to figure it out so that other missionaries after me will have all the blessings of online proselyting! So far, my best idea has been Liken, but if everyone at home can help us to get their friends on board "chatting" with the missionaries over Facebook, that would really help move the Work of Salvation along. I think :)

 

I must say, I really do enjoy the Glendale weather.  Spending the Summer in the most Northern part of the mission and the Winter in the most Southern part of the mission is pretty nice :) I'm sorry that my letters aren't very spiritual.  I will work on it.  I need to start taking my journal to the computers with me again!  I'm sorry, I'll do better next week.

 

Love you! Miss you! I think it's weird that you foster puppies!

 

-Kady

November 11, 2013

Hey Mom! Sorry I'm emailing you so late. We had a crazy time today with riding our bikes around and Sister Clark is playing the piano for a musical number for our mission tour this week, and we pretty much just wasted a lot of time. I hate wasting time! But next week we'll be more organized. Anyway, so the garment thing, I just want to decide if I want to buy the caranessa kind because it's the kind I like, or if I want to buy a whatever kind is best for Phoenix heat. I don't really know. I guess I will let you know next week? Is that okay? Sorry about that. It's just hard to only have 7 and a half pairs!!!! (Sister Harrah stole one piece....rude!) So I love love LOVE Glendale! It's so nice here! OHHH! And, you should tell Patriarch Williams that I'm serving in his old ward :) Lots of people know him! And his family lives in the ward that shares our building! Crazy huh? :) But yes, the weather is perfect this time of year in the valley. I am SSOOOOOOO happy to be out of Flagstaff :) I loved it there so much! But it was getting pretty cold, and now it's perfect weather :) I just hope next summer I go somewhere up North again! hahaha I guess we'll see. I just hope that some day I will be back in a car again. The only thing I dislike about this area is the bike. I am training myself to be positive about it, but right now it ticks me off pretty bad. Sister Clark is from West Jordan, Utah! And I like her a lot. My first 3 companions were all alike and pretty much the opposite of me, but Sister Clark and I have a lot of similarities. But I am so grateful for the time I had with my other companions! We had our struggles, but because of them, a lot of situations where I know I would have butted heads with Sister Clark are avoided because I have a more patient and temperate attitude toward disagreement. She knows what she wants and I know what I want, and when there is slight variation, I am pleased to say that I have learned to take a step back and only worry about the things that really matter to me, not just always getting my way about everything. I'm Sister Clark's second companion, this is her first transfer not in training, and I know that if we were both at that point in our missions, we would not get along, just because I know how I was and I know how I would react to her, and I can guess pretty well how she would react to me, well, by the way she DOES react to me, haha. Well anyway, I'm just pleased to see that we have a lot of similarities, but also to see that I am changing and that I can get along with probably anyone now, when before it was a lot harder :) Sister Clark and I will have a great transfer :) So about school. I tell everyone who asks me that I plan on going to Dixie with Kelly and Victoria :) I still really want to!!! But this is my thought. I either want to work for the year until school starts, or I want to take a few classes at Salt Lake Community College for the credits that don't transfer from a Wyoming school to Utah schools. So I don't know what you can do about that, but I wouldn't mind taking some of those general education classes that aren't credited. Does that make sense? I feel like it doesn't but I don't know how to reword it. And I have no idea what you can do about that! Well, life is good. I will pray for Grandma. I will also pray that I can go over to the Mares's for Thanksgiving. I guess we'll see what happens! Love you so so so much! Sorry this is a short letter. -Kady

November 5, 2013

Hey hey! Sooooo....guess what. Sister Connell and I are both getting transferred!!! What!?! Right!!?? Anyway. That's pretty crazy. (We get the text on Tuesday morning whether we're being transferred or not, spend the day doing P-Day things, and then leave on Wednesday morning.) So that's exciting! We're just sad because we have a baptism this weekend and we don't even get to be here for it! And next weekend, and the weekend after. I must say, we worked really hard to get this area up and rolling again. And we don't even get to enjoy the fruits! At least we know how to set up an awesome schedule for other missionaries. Maybe that's what I'll get to do...go to a struggling area and make it fruitful and then get transferred before it all starts coming into place. Well, I'm not complaining, I learned a lot from my time in Flagstaff. And I am grateful for the chance to serve somewhere else. No matter when I get transferred, I will always be leaving work behind. That's my new philosophy I guess. We don't know where we're going or who we're with until the transfer meeting which is tomorrow. And I won't be training. And I got your package this morning:) So my week! We got our iPads:) I have to say, I've had it for almost a week, and I don't know how I'll ever live without it. I LOVE iPad minis!!!! I'm not joking when I tell you I'm going to buy one for myself when I go home. It's fantastic! I'm in the process of transferring all my marked verses in my scriptures to my gospel library so I can downsize to where I only carry the iPad around:) I'm so excited! I'm a little obsessed. Sister Connell said that last night I was talking in my sleep about the iPad. I named it Paddy :) hahaaha obsessed!!! It's so handy. There's an Area Book app made by the Church for missionaries. We're in the process of switching everything over. And our daily planners are in that app, too! I wish I could show you, describing it won't paint the picture. It's very intelligent, though. It keeps us updated and accountable for what we do every day. It's amazing!!! Just know, I love it very much:) Well, Sister Connell and I have a lot left to do in preparation for transfers. Sorry this is a short, lame letter! I really am sorry. I'll do better next week! Love you!!!! Good luck with soccer and house renovations and school and Victoria and all the other stuff on your plate:) -Kady [Then in an email dated Nov. 6th, we received this update from Kady:} Hey Mom :) So I was transferred....I'm serving in the Glendale South Zone in an area called Glen Lakes. So I'm in the hot! Well, it's pretty nice right now :) And my companion's name is Sister Clark and she's from West Jordan :) I've met her before, she's really nice :) She just finished her training a few days ago so I'm only her second companion! I feel pretty bad for her..haha :) Talk to you on Monday! Love you!!!

October 29, 2013

So best news ever!!!! Lots of miracles happened this week. I don't know why I never knew this, but I guess boys have to have the Aaronic Priesthood before they can go to the temple? No one told me! So on Thursday we were able to see our brand-new convert, Charles, get the priesthood!!!! 4 days after his baptism!!!!! Then he went to the temple on Saturday and had an amazing experience:) We set a baptism date with that lady who you called and sent you the picture, Becky Crowther, step-son, Jerome:) He's getting baptized on the 9th! He's so ready, it's awesome:) We got a phone call last week from a missionary couple serving in Kayenta (however you spell that) who told us about a woman in a nursing home who wasn't a member and wanted a blessing. The reception was bad so we didn't get a lot of information, and then completely forgot. It came back to me that we needed to find this woman! So we went to a nursing home that wasn't housing her, but we signed up to volunteer someday:) Then on Saturday we went to another nursing home to see if she was there, and she was! She was a Navajo woman in a wheelchair sitting out in the hallway in front of the medicine counter. And she doesn't understand English....just Navajo. She didn't know what we were saying and we didn't know what she was saying! We called our District Leader to come give her a blessing and wheeled her into her room. We asked her if she wanted a blessing and she made a motion with her hands like a priesthood holder lays his hands on a recipient, and then started to stroke her head! It was awesome! She knew who we were and knew what she wanted:) We're positive she felt the Spirit really strong! Then she started talking to us a bunch and we didn't know what to do so we wheeled her back into the hallway and said goodbye. It was really cool, though! So! Yesterday I was in Paulden all day :) I was with a sister named Sister (Hermana) Stanley and she looks and acts just like Annie Sangster! Can you email me some pictures of Annie so I can show Sister Stanley? :) But she is so fun and I loved my time there. It was really windy! And there are only a few paved roads, and I had to drive. They had a Chevrolet Colorado and it was really fun to drive! Especially because the roads were terrible so I just had to rip through the bumps and holes. It was a great day, though:) I guess to answer your questions, I will be pretty sad to leave Flagstaff, but it will be nice to have a change. The work is the same all over, but change is fun, so I'm excited :) Well, that's about all. Love you so so so much! Now we don't have to go through Flagstaff after my mission for me to show you around, you saw it already :) hahaha Love, Kady

October 21, 2013

Hey Mom! I'm glad you all had a good week :) We sure did!!! We had a baptism on Saturday! FINALLY!!!! It was so great :) His name is Charles and his Methodist parents flew in from Michigan to come see him! It was great :) They were a little skeptical at first, but at the end of his baptism they were smiling and laughing and telling Bishop that they were so pleased about the community of the LDS Church :) His dad thanked me for taking care of him :) But seriously, Charles is the best :) He's really funny and reminds me of JD! He likes to read comics and relates the things he learns about the gospel to movies all the time. At his baptism he bore his testimony and said that the gospel is like the movie Hook. You can probably guess how he made that connection. He's totally a wonk :) Just like JD!!! It's been fun teaching him :) We're going to the Mesa temple on Saturday! We're taking Charles to the Family History Center this week to prepare family names and then to the temple to do baptisms for them :) I'm so excited!!!! We have to sacrifice our P-day for it. So we're having 2 P-days this week and no P-day next week. Weird. But I'll still be able to email you on Monday :) We've been so blessed lately! Our hard work is beginning to show results :) We have a few investigators and are planning on having a few more this week! It's so exciting! We have a really great one name Jerome and he is so ready for baptism! It's exciting :) He probably only needs about 3 weeks :) The cool thing is that we are also teaching 2 formers! We had dinner with our friend, Ben, and he brought his friend, Marc, who took the lessons last year. Because we got to talk to him for an hour we were able to set up an appointment with him and start teaching him! It's so exciting! I think I told you about the other one? His name is Terrence and he took the lessons 2 years ago but has been coming to Church almost every week! We called him and set up an appointment and he agreed to keep meeting with us. Last week we set a date with him for November 16th! So many miracles :) We've also started meeting with less-active members. I'm so happy when we're busy! Sometimes we're not busy and it stresses me out sooooo bad! But I thought of this quote this morning "there's no growing in a comfort zone and there's no comfort in a growing zone." Even though I'm really uncomfortable all the time, it's when I can fill our days with meaningful activities that we are able to grow. We don't always have something to do but when we get through the day and make goals to not have days like that again, that's when you know I've grown a little :) Anyway, that's enough of that. I hope all is well for you at home! Please let me know what kinds of things you're all doing to be member missionaries :) Love you, Mom! You're the best :) -Kady

October 14, 2013

Okay, let me tell you a little story. It's pretty awesome :) If you know anything about the Preach My Gospel handbook, Chapter 9 is on finding people. Sister Connell and I were using the Ideas for Study and Application in the back of the chapter on page 172 in our companion study yesterday morning. One of the suggestions says, "Imagine that you and your companion are transferred into a new area. You find the area book in good condition, but you have no investigators. What would you do to add people to your teaching pool as rapidly as possible? Make plans to implement some of these ideas today." We talked a little bit, throwing out some ideas, and then came up with the idea to teach Sunday School. We thought, "what if we could teach TODAY?!" I got really excited and texted our Ward Mission Leader. This is the conversation we had via text: Us: Who's teaching Sunday School today? WML: I don't know, [the person in charge of today's class] hasn't told me anything. Unless he's already gone [on his mission]. In which he should have told me. Us: Oh man! If he's on his mission already, can we teach Sunday School today? WML: Honestly I was thinking that yesterday. I just didn't tell you. You were already my back up. I'm glad we are all on the same page! Then guess what we did? WE TAUGHT SUNDAY SCHOOL YESTERDAY!!!!! I was so excited all morning, I couldn't contain it :) We went through the Restoration Pamphlet with everyone and let them each keep a copy. Then we went through some of the paragraphs in Chapter 9 that we'd studied, like "The Importance of Members" and "Go About Doing Good" sections. We even used another one of the Ideas for Study and Application at the end of the chapter to invite the members to make a list of people they could share the gospel with and then to prayerfully select on to invite by next month :) I was so pumped!!! Coolest thing ever. Now that's how you "add people to your teaching pool as rapidly as possible" :) Then! We had a lesson during Relief Society and now we have a new investigator!!! Crazzzzzzzzy!!!! Best Sunday ever :) I also told Dad about another great story from yesterday, so you can ask him to read it to you :) I don't know if he shares my letters to him with you? The other day we were going through our list of Formers, and found one who had taken the lessons two years ago but has been coming to Church consistently since then! We met with him and invited him to continue the lessons and he agreed. We asked him why he didn't want to be baptized and he gave some reasons. We read some scriptures about why it's important to be baptized and he said "actually, a few days ago I was thinking about it, and I think I want to be baptized." What?! Are you serious! So many miracles this week it's not even funny!!! It only snowed that one day. And it melted faster than it fell so it was only snowy in the morning! It snowed long enough to attack me at the gas pump! We went on exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders this weekend. I was in Prescott on Saturday. I love Prescott! I would be happy to be transferred there someday :) I love the story about Kelly :) Made me laugh so hard! And I got a letter from her last week :) Probably won't have time for shopping if you send me money on Christmas. But don't have a heart attack, you do a fine job picking out clothes for me :) And the candy corn soda was not very good...but it's expected! Thanks for the love :) haha Love you Mom! Hope you have a good week :) BE GOOD ;) -Kady

October 7, 2013

Kelly wrote me? She must have forgotten to send it because I haven't gotten a letter from her. I watched all 4 sessions of conference at the Welcome Center. We were "allowed" to watch the Relief Society broadcast 15 minutes after it started so I was really sad about missing that. I learned from that experience that if it seems like a good idea and the Spirit is telling me I should do something, if I don't necessarily "get permission" yet, I should do it until I'm told not to. Not in all situations, but I could only be mad at myself for not going. If I had gone to the beginning and our zone leaders told us we weren't permitted to go, we could just say "oops" and then leave early. But instead I waited around and ended up missing the whole thing for no reason. I was REALLY upset at first until I decided to not be angry at my leaders for not caring about the sisters (blah blah blah pity me, sister missionaries are so dramatic!) because I could only be mad at myself for not taking action in my own life. Lesson learned! Last Monday, I was waiting for Sister Connell to finish on the computer at the library and I looked up and saw the homeless person that was baptized in June! Once the Elders were transferred, he disappeared. Now he calls us and asks us to set up appointments with him again:) I know that that is one of the reasons why I am still in Flagstaff, no one else knows him or would have recognized him, he would have been lost. Especially because he wants to move to Kingman soon and then no one would have found him! Well I shouldn't say that, the Lord would put him or someone in a place to bring him back eventually, but I know that Sister Connell and I can do that right now! It's so exciting!! Over the weekend, I was caught up in serious reflection about my life. It gets pretty deep, so I don't think I want to email it home to the whole world, so I might tell you about it when I get home someday. But starting with Friday's zone meeting all the way until this morning's personal study, I was pondering so deeply the life I have lived and am living. It was weird. It was kind of like an out-of-body experience where I was just observing myself. I didn't talk much, I was really thoughtful. But I've come to a conclusion and am ready to start applying the things I learned from this experience and from General Conference to my life. I know that sounds weird, but I would have to explain to you what happened and this doesn't feel like the place, especially when I don't know who reads these letters... but speaking of General Conference! I loved it!!!! I wrote about it on Liken, and I would like everyone to share what they liked, too:) Well, it was a rough week for indicators. We lost contact with one of our investigators as she lost her phone on her trip to Boston and another one of our investigators "set us aside." But we still have an incredible investigator well on his way to baptism on the 19th! This baptism is a long-time-coming for Sister Connell, YSA 1st ward, and me. It will be such a relief to see the results of our efforts! We have been doing some less-active reactivation work mostly, and it has been rewarding to have them come back, so I'm not complaining. Missionary work just wears me out sometimes. Well, all the time. Still not complaining! D&C 123:13 "we should waste and wear out our lives in bringing...light" to all the people of Flagstaff, whether they are active members, less-active members, or not-yet members! ANYWAY, really done this time. I love you so much! Thanks for all the emails:) Sorry you felt bad all last week! I got it this time! -Kady

September 30, 2013

There's a member in the ward who lives in South Jordan and she's going home on Wednesday so she said she could bring stuff down for me :) I don't really need anything, but I was hoping to send some stuff home that doesn't work for me; clothes that don't fit the guidelines. So I'm going to give her your number if that's okay :) I have had such a crazy spiritual week! I can't even begin to tell you how much I have grown in even just the past 2 days. The heavens are definitely kept open to missionaries. Let me tell you a story :) It's gotten REALLY cold in Flagstaff. Our heater wasn't working...and I had a pretty terrible night on Friday night. It was cold like when you're camping in late May or early June and your sleeping bag is too big so every time you turn over you are all icy and have to try to warm up the bag before you can get back to sleep. That's how I was all night.....in my bed. So Saturday morning, we called our awesome District Leader and he said he'd come by during the day to look at it for us. He asked us to leave the door unlocked and he'd lock it behind them when they left. We left for the morning and drove a couple of blocks away when I just felt like we needed to lock the door. So we went straight back, but we went up a street we don't normally go up. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a man playing the guitar in front of a house. I kept driving a little, but felt like we should go talk to him. I decided to, reluctantly. I pulled over, sighed really big, and in an irritated tone said to Sister Connell, "there's a man back there and we need to talk to him." We walked back the block and a half that it took me to drive down before I decided to listen to my prompting. We walk up to him and just start out with, "hey! We saw you playing the guitar and wanted to come listen!" He was shy about it and just asked us where we're from. We said, "we're from Utah, we're on our missions." He asked, "like ministry?" "Well, kind of, we talk to people about Jesus Christ and help them to develop more faith in Him." Then he went into detail about his own religious background explaining about how he doesn't know what to believe and that he and his wife have been hurt by members of different churches. I pulled out a copy of the Book of Mormon I had in my bag and asked him if he'd ever read it. He hadn't. I turned to the Introduction and showed him the first paragraph that explains that the Book of Mormon contains the fullness of the gospel, as does the Bible (which he reads). Then I showed him the last two paragraphs and explained that if he read and prayed about the Book of Mormon that Heavenly Father would help him to know for himself if it is true. That's the part he liked. He said, "most people tell you what to believe. I like that you are saying we can know for ourselves." He also said that he felt good when we were talking with each other. He went inside for a minute and came out with his wife and asked me to introduce the Book of Mormon the same way to her. They were both really excited to take the Book and to read it together! We got his name and number and gave him as a referral to the Elders. They said they set up an appointment with him for tomorrow and that he's already read the entire first book of Nephi! What a miracle, right?! And this kind of stuff has been happening constantly for us! I know that the Spirit is REAL! The Church is TRUE! Well, that's my best story. I'm pretty sad to not have a very long letter from you. I guess I know how you feel now! Hope everything's okay with you and the family! I love you a lot :) -Kady

September 24, 2013

Your trip sounds like a lot of fun! And those pictures are pretty :) I hope it was a fun anniversary for you:) So...transfers. I'M STAYING IN FLAGSTAFF! Can you believe it? Weird! I'll be here, still, until at least the 3rd of November. I think it's pretty crazy. But I'm really, really happy about it. I would have been sad to not see our investigators through to baptism. And we have two baptisms scheduled for October 12th! We're really excited about it:) The Sister's Specialized Training (they get mad when you call it "Sister's Conference") was pretty fun. They did hair and makeup and pedicures and I opted out of those activities. I have been soooooooo basic with my hair! I don't know if you've noticed, but my hair has been in a braid or ponytail every day and occasionally a bun. It's because I'm trying to grow out my hair so I haven't been working too hard to do anything with it. And because I've been growing it out and the last two times I got it cut here the girl cut it shorter than I wanted to, instead of going somewhere else (and potentially paying for it...) I cut my own hair a few weeks ago. I don't know if I told you that. One day I got out of the shower and looked at my sad, dead hair and just took my paper cutting scissors and cut the ends off. So now I have a bad haircut! That's another good reason that I wear it in a ponytail, braid, or sometimes bun. I think I've probably talked about this before, but I had such a great experience the other day following my impressions! We were going to a Potential Investigator's apartment and I glanced over and saw a girl sitting on her deck by herself. I thought "we should talk to her" but then I thought "we should talk to everyone, and there are plenty of people that we just don't end up talking to." But....then I felt bad, "what if the Spirit is telling me to talk to her and I'm ignoring it? Plus, what's the harm in just going over there?" So...we did. And we ended up having a great conversation with her! She gave us her number and said we could come back to teach her :) I'm getting pretty brave :) Another thing that I've noticed about myself is that I've become very bold. I tell people exactly how it is. It's true about missionary work and just life! If someone bothered me before, like my roommates or something, I wouldn't really bring it up. I'd just let the person do what they do and get over it, even if it ended up bothering me really bad. But now I just tell people "that bothers me." I can't believe it! But with missionary work, I seriously just tell it how it is. There was this time that a boy hadn't been coming to Church. We went to his house to talk to him and he said he's just been hurt and not sure if he trusts God anymore. I was being sensitive to his concerns and I was also being sensitive to the Spirit and said "well, you have two options; turn away from God or turn towards Him to get you through this. I think it's time you start coming back to Church." Then he did! Now he comes every week and we see him at the Welcome Center almost every day! It's the craziest thing. I do that kind of thing all the time. Especially when we talk about the Law of Chastity. I'm not going to beat around the bush about that! Anyway, I'm getting really tired of my clothes. I'm also kind of running out of clothes....I feel like they're slowly disappearing. I give some away and send some home and don't get any more. I'm not saying this for you to send me clothes or money, just so you know that 7 months of the same 4 outfits is getting pretty old. I didn't bring my journal again today.... Let me tell you this crazy story! So remember when I was telling you about our investigator who went to the baptism and said "I'm ready for my interview" ? Maybe I didn't tell you, but she disappeared for a week and we didn't know where she was! We were soooo scared! But then she came back out of no where and apparently she'd taken a spur of the moment vacation to Michigan for the week! Now she's back on track and we'll get her baptized in October :) Sorry I can't really remember anything else. Did you already get the plaque? Please don't! But if it's too late I came up with a funny idea :) If it's also not too late, I'd like my scripture to be Matthew 6:22 ;) Anyway. I'm all out of ideas. Sorry I'm a loser! Love you, Mom :) -Kady

September 16, 2013

I wrote Kelly and said "maybe now that you're a missionary you'll realize how much you want letters and you might actually start writing me" :) Is it weird to have 2 daughters on missions? I can't believe she's a missionary already! What the! So how is/was your cruise? Sounds like it should be a lot of fun anyway :) Except the Alaska part. That's cold. It's been really cold here! The rain has become pretty chilly. It's definitely not summer anymore in Flagstaff! I potentially only have one more week here :( Sister Connell will be officially trained on Monday so that means she won't need me anymore :( Which means I might get TRANSFERRED! I'm so sad! I don't want to leave Flagstaff :( Oh well, maybe I'll get transferred to Black Canyon City ;) Yes, the journals arrived safe and sound :) I was worried they might get ruined in the rain, but the UPS guy brought it to us! It was cool because he even used the doorbell! No one comes to our apartment so no one uses the doorbell. It was an historic moment for us :) hahaha Anyway! On to INTERESTING stuff. Sorry I ramble like you ;) So this week was great! The other sisters had a baptism on Saturday and our 2 progressing investigators came! It was seriously the best baptism I've ever gone to. They could both feel the Spirit SO STRONG that they both got really excited to get baptized! But then neither of them came to Church due to family issues (one girl had family issues with her grandpa and her car and the other went home to say goodbye to the family dog they were putting down over the weekend). But we had a less-active member and her friend come to Church at least! They both loved it :) We have an appointment with her friend so we're excited to start teaching her :) We locked ourselves out of our apartment on Saturday. That was cool. We had a trainer/trainee meeting on Tuesday. I love meetings :) I'm one of those weird people I guess! I just love them because it's so organized and everyone comes together to feel the Spirit and to learn new things we can do better. It's one of my top 5 favorite things about the mission! I don't know what the other 4 are. One of them is teaching people. I just threw that out there... One day this week, we forgot to bring food with us for lunch so we went to Panda Express, then we had 2 dinner appointments and neither of them happened, so we called one of our members who said to call if we don't have a dinner appointment and he took us to Carl's Jr. and we had kid meals with the chicken stars :) Then I ate some pizza at the Welcome Center. I never thought I would train my body to eat so healthy that eating out twice, kind of three times, would cause me to be in so much pain when I went in for the night! I guess that's a good thing? I don't know what to say. Sorry. I even brought my journal! I guess I'll stop giving silly details about the nonsensical things we did this week and share with you some of the things I've been learning in my studies :) Oh! This week we taught the Word of Wisdom lesson and it was my first time teaching it to someone that wasn't living it already :) It was cool. I made Sister Connell commit her, she was scared, but as her trainer I felt that she should do it :) Now we're helping someone quit smoking! It's so exciting! I figured out why it's important to study for others instead of for myself! Normally, it would make sense to study for myself because I need to know what I'm talking about so that I can teach better, right? Well, it works a lot better when I study for others. This is why! The things I study are the things I think about during the day. So many times I've been in a situation where I'm having a conversation with someone and the things I think about to say are the things I had just studied either that morning or a few mornings before. So, when I tried it out and studied for appointments, not only was I able to call upon information that was pertinent for the situation, but I was able to tie the same things into other things I was doing that day! Let me explain myself. So I was studying missionary work and service to have that be the focus of the "spiritual thought" we share when we have dinner with members or when we pray with them. In one day, I used the service section of True to the Faith at dinner, 2 visits with members, and at the 12-Step addiction recovery group, and I also tied it into Mosiah 2:41 and part of the conference talk I had "RANDOMLY" (caps because I didn't pick it for any reason and in quotes because I know I was led by the Spirit to read it) by Elder Perry "Obedience to Law is Liberty" (which has become my new favorite talk from last conference (can you believe it's almost conference again??? I'm so excited!!!)). It's crazy how the things I learn become the exact thing I need to use in my teaching!!! Well, that's enough of that. Love you! Hope you have a great week!! -Kady (can't say Sister Tolley anymore!!!)

September 9, 2013

Oh my goodness, that picture of Kelly is HILARIOUS!!! So, I forgot my journal again. But this time I have more time so I will try to be more interesting! If you haven't already paid for the plaque, I decided I don't want another one anymore! But if you have paid for it already, then I guess you can just use the 3 Nephi scripture. I seriously just sat here for 20 minutes trying to decide on a new scripture and gave myself a headache. I hope you didn't already get the new plaque! The people who write me regularly are Dad, you, my friend Sister Toyn from the New Mexico mission, an Elder serving in Virginia who I've never met, and Tony Markus :) So I get enough letters! No one writes me from home! Sometimes I get letters from grandparents, but I have no friends writing me except missionaries! Things are better now that school is in :) We have some great investigators! We might still not have any baptisms coming up soon for some different reasons, but at least we have some progressing investigators that we're excited about :) We had an exchange with the sisters in Sedona this week. They work in a trio and one of the sisters stayed with me in Flagstaff for the day. Sister Connell had a rough time in Sedona....I guess they live in a mortuary and they took her to the freezer and she saw a bunch of bodies. If I ever serve in Sedona we are MOVING. I refuse to live in a place like that! But my exchange up here was great :) Yesterday was really nice :) We had a great dinner with some of the girls in our ward. They made a delicious chicken teriyaki in a crock pot! Sister Connell's mom sent her a bunch of cake mixes and we brought the chocolate one over and we all made cake together :) We also made a quick frosting, but Sister Connell and I had to leave before the cake was done, so they brought it to our fireside and we all ate it in the kitchen! It was funny :) The other day we cleaned this lady's house who we met at the 12 Step Program. We didn't have a lot of time so we just scrubbed one of her bathrooms and helped her son clean his room. It was a wreck! But we got it spotless :) I always love doing that! There's so much satisfaction in taking something dirty and making it perfect :) Oh, apparently Annie Duncan commented on a Facebook post that and Elder's mom in my zone, Elder Starr, put up and they have no relation, and neither do we! Yeah, he just told me that. Fun fact haha :) It has been rainy and cold the past couple of days. Today I'm wearing a cardigan and scarf and my boots! It's crazy! This morning we woke up to rain and I tied 3 socks together and then tied them to my head to keep my ears warm! It's crazy! But I love it :) It's going to get cold too fast here....this morning I had "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" stuck in my head :) It's only raining, it shouldn't snow for another month! Let me tell you about the stupid thing I said at Church yesterday. There were these two girls who were both wearing 6 or 7 inch heels and I said "wow, those shoes make you both really tall!" One of them said, "yeah, we call ourselves the Twin Towers." Without thinking about it, I popped off with "well, you know what happened to those..." I was really embarrassed and walked away! All of you should read the Book of Mormon with me and comment when you want to on Facebook on our Liken page :) Please? I think that would be so fun! And a good way to make sure we're all reading the Book of Mormon every day :) I'm not doing this for me, I'm doing it for you! Not just you as in Mom and the family, but for everyone to help us all read! I'm sure there are things I could tell you about my week, but I'm sorry I forgot my journal :( But I will tell you that my testimony has increased this week on working hard and forgetting yourself. I feel like I was spending a little too much time earlier this week worried about myself and not enough about the people like, "what am I doing wrong? What do I need to do better? How could I have made this thing happen?" When really I need to think, "what does this person need to progress? What does she need to know to have a testimony of the Book of Mormon? How can she feel the love of the ward members and her Heavenly Father?" I need to turn OUTWARD instead of looking at myself so much. As I focus on building the people that I'm serving, I will automatically improve myself. The best way to learn is to teach, the best way to feel taken care of is to serve, the best way to feel loved is to love, and the best way to be better is to help other reach their potential. Well, I sure love you, Mom :) Thanks for always making sure there's an email waiting for me when I log on :) You're the best! Love you tons! And the rest of the hooligans :) -Kady

September 3, 2013

I didn't remember to bring my journal today and I only have an hour online so I hope this isn't a stinky letter like usual! Just so I don't forget, I haven't even opened the battery operated alarm clock you sent me so I can send it back to you :) We just use the alarm on our cell phone to get up! And I don't like the kind that tick, which is the kind you bought me. I'll send it home! First of all, I think it's funny that you said that I'm better off as a missionary to not miss my family as much as people like Preston Sharp because I have been away at school before, but so was Preston! hahahahaha so that didn't work :) Anyway! So we had a pretty interesting week. We met a girl who we started teaching early in the week, then she kept cancelling appointments with us....and then she moved to Tucson. It was crazy! Oh well :) But it ended up being a miracle because Sister Connell and I were planning this AWESOME lesson with another one of our investigators, using the white board and a bunch of visual aids and things :) But she ended up having a headache and asked us to come to her house instead...so we told our member who was going to come, who is also our ward mission leader, that he didn't need to come anymore and we would just hurry over to her house. We had to completely change our lesson plan! So we decided to try to teach the same lesson we did with the girl who moved. It ended up being our best lesson ever! We invited the Spirit so strongly! It was amazing :) We went on companion exchanges with our Sister Trainer Leaders. I always love exchanges :) tonight we're going on another exchange with the sisters who serve in Sedona :) I always learn so much! It's pretty much guaranteed that Sister Connell and I will be staying in Flagstaff together for another transfer after this. It was pretty obviously hinted at us yesterday. I'm REALLY happy about it :) Lately I've had the best experiences receiving personal revelation! It's pretty much, like, every day. I'd tell you all my experiences but I'm running out of time! I'll just give you one. I probably told you this already, and I'm getting frustrated with this email program, or else I would check to make sure I'm not repeating myself. So Sister Connell was praying for inspiration of new ideas we can use to find more investigators at the institute. WHILE SHE WAS PRAYING I came up with the idea for a Book of Mormon discussion group! We would meet every day or every other day at a certain time to read chapters of the Book of Mormon together and apply it to our lives! I told her about the idea and she came up with a brilliant idea to make it a group on Facebook! In the next couple of days we're going to organize it and make it happen :) It's called "Liken" because we liken the scriptures to ourselves :) and also because we're likin' the Book of Mormon ;) Please join the page! And tell everyone! We'll talk about the Book of Mormon together with everyone around the world! That's our dream for it anyway :) But it's just absolutely amazing to me that we would be in the process of praying for inspiration and receiving it at the exact same time! It's been happening all the time lately :) Well, that's about all I have time for today. Sorry! I'll repent and do better next week :) LOVE YOU!!!! Tell Kelly congratulations for me and give everyone a big hug :) -Kady

August 26, 2013

I brought my journal with me so I could come up with something better to write you this week! Sheesh! (Speaking of my journal, I'm running out of pages again :) Can I please get another one? You've gotten me a red and blue one so far if you want to surprise me with a new color :) Also, I was wondering if it isn't too much to ask if you could send me 2? I want to give one to Sister Connell, but it's okay if not! Thanks and love you!) Well! Let me tell you about Tuesday :) This story is pretty cool! So, one of our members has a friend named Kayla who said she was interested in learning about the Church! So we set up a lunch appointment for Tuesday at Subway...mmmm Subway :) Anyway, she asked if she could bring her dad, and we're thinking, sweet! Two investigators in a day! (Not that we could teach her dad anyway, but that's not the point). We're waiting for them to come and everything, then when they get there they ask if we want to sit outside or inside. We say, outside is fine, and they sit down. Umm... "Did you want to eat anything?" No they did not. That's a pretty weird lunch appointment if you ask me. I was excited about Subway! Okay, okay back to the story. So they sit down and pull out a couple of different copies and versions of the Bible. Uh oh. We were thinking we would introduce ourselves, do some How To Begin Teaching (page 176 of Preach My Gospel, just some get-to-know-you get-to-know-us pointers) and talk a little bit about the beginning of the first lesson. No, no, they were prepared for an intense discussion. ALRIGHT! This is how it went. Kayla wanted to learn more about the Church and her dad came out of obligation as the head of the household to see what his daughter is getting herself into, essentially. What happened was some back and forth Bible...well I wouldn't say bashing...but it was kind of like polite, calm bashing. I pulled out the Book of Mormon and they would have none of that, so we were going back and forth in the Bible. It was crazy! They were trying to prove in Ephesians and 2 Timothy and Titus about how works are in vain and only by God' grace will we be saved. True, but James says faith without works is dead. How can we have faith if we don't do good works? I wasn't entirely prepared for that one so I had to let it go, but I've been studying grace versus works and have some SOLID scriptures to back myself up next time! Anyway, this is where it got CRAZY! So, he was trying to prove to us in Galatians how there are no prophets after Christ and if they claim to preach His word and that they are prophets than they are actually anti-Christs. he was actually getting a tad heated when he started talking about Joseph Smith (he brought the big guy up by the way). I had been studying the evidences of the Restoration in the Book of Mormon and I had an awesome experience with 2 Nephi 27 which refers to Isaiah 29. In my personal study a few days prior, I had decided to read that chapter in Isaiah. It didn't make a whole lot of sense. Then I read 2 Nephi 26 and 27 and then went back to Isaiah 29 and it made clear sense! In my "banter" with Kayla's dad, I decided to be brave and show him that in Isaiah, it prophesies of Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and the Restoration. I. CONFOUNDED. HIM. It was AWESOME! He said, "that's interesting, I'll have to study that, mind if I say a closing prayer?" Then he prayed and got in his van real quick :) Yep, it was pretty cool. We also got a great new investigator this week! Her name is Alex and she's really knowledgeable in the LDS Church because she was taken to Church with her grandpa as a little girl but isn't baptized :) She's amazing! She came to Church with us yesterday and we're really excited about teaching her :) Sooooo.. to answer some of your questions. Yes, I am on Facebook! What the!? Anyway, I'm to use it for missionary purposes only, so for communication with friends and family on matters that aren't gospel related, writing letters and emails is the standard. But! I can of course add people as friends, whoever, around the whole world! So your friend can add me if she wants. In a situation where I could be strengthening people at home, I can teach them. For example, any non-member friends that I have who want to learn about the Church or any less-active friends who need help coming back. There's an Elder in my mission who has a non-member father who he has been TEACHING on Facebook with his returned missionary BROTHER. There are some limits to what I can do, but no limits at all when it comes to sharing the gospel. One Elder has a page that he created for his family to share their studies together so he can help prepare his younger siblings for their missions. But this isn't a way to be sneaky and talk more, as long as there is a righteous objective and it helps me fulfill my purpose as a missionary, everything is game! :) Yes I am getting along great with my companion :) She's awesome! And hilarious. She keeps asking me about my family and wants to meet Kelly way bad because she feels like they would be great friends :) There hasn't been any problems with the Elders. We've all been able to work together just fine :) I've grown so much in the past week, it's ridiculous. I have been trying to work on my faith, trying to be better at relying wholly on the Lord and it has been AMAZING my experiences. There have been times where my natural instinct and common sense would cause me to doubt, but as I've been focusing on my faith, I've been moving forward anyway and seeing such miracles. Small miracles like being able to find the home of someone who invited us to dinner when we were a half hour late and had forgotten the map at home. Other miracles like studying something, completely unplanned and led by the Spirit, to have it reiterated in Zone Conference and over and over again during my day. And big miracles like finding Alex and having her come to Church with us. Something I've learned about miracles is that it's a lot like when people don't know how to recognize the Spirit. I've heard pretty much everyone I know tell me that now or previously they had struggled to learn the difference between their own thoughts and the promptings of the Spirit. The answer is, if it's righteous, IT IS FROM THE SPIRIT, and that it doesn't matter anyway. The same thing is true about miracles! It's so easy to say, "oh that was a coincidence" or to just disregard the things that happen that commonly shouldn't happen. EVERYTHING IS A MIRACLE!! Small, big, normal-seeming...I have learned to recognize the MIRACLES that happen in my life and that is what has helped my faith to grow and to trust God. I shouldn't be able to do (this or that), but if I pray for it and have full faith in it, it will happen. End of story. Well, that's my wisdom for today. I hope you all have a great week! It's been raining like CRAZY here lately! I love it :) LOVE YOU! -Kady

August 19, 2013

Sorry that my letters are apparently too short! I don't know what to say, my weeks are all the same! And I can only write to you on Monday so I can't keep an ongoing letter throughout the week, sorry. I write in my journal every night, if you want you can read it when I get home I guess! There was a baptism on Saturday for the other sisters. We were planning on going, in fact we were part of the program! And then.....we missed it. But it was for a good reason because we were having a lesson with a boy we met the other day named Thatcher! He's now our new investigator! Also, that same day, we found a less-active boy that we didn't even mean to find. His records aren't here so no one even knew he was there, we just went to talk to a group of people and he happened to be just inside! It was crazy :) Then that night we went over to a girl's house who said we could come back (we met her trying to see if a former investigator who once lived there still did, the answer is no..) and we had a discussion. She is very opinionated, though, so I don't know how much she is willing to learn and open to change, but she wants us back (maybe she was just saying that to be nice, but we're coming back anyway ;) ). School starts next week so everyone will be moving back this weekend. It's very exciting :) Summers are slow in singles wards, but at least now we will have a lot more work to be doing and a lot more members to help us! Well, that book you were talking about is not part of the approved missionary library. I was really happy to get letters from Vic and Livi! I bought one of those nametags that clip on instead of the magnet or the pin. I like it a lot better :) We took one of our recent converts, Callie, to the Family History Center on Wednesday! She was able to put some of her family's names into the system and soon she'll be able to take those names to the temple :) When I took that Family History Institute class last year, I didn't really like doing family history work. But since I've been on my mission and have studied it a few times and have been able to see the blessings of doing it for other people who don't have grandmas who do it for the whole family, I can really see how important it is that we try to do our family history! I don't know how helpful I can be, but maybe I could do it for other people someday. I really miss the temple. I wish I could go every week! But my mission isn't about me and this time is long enough to make it a sacrifice but short enough that it's not really a sacrifice at all. It's kind of putting "endure to the end" into perspective for me. I'm not saying I hate my mission or anything, but I am saying that it's starting to be a trial for me to have been serving in the same place for so long. It will be different when school starts and all the students come, but it's all becoming a little too familiar to me. I would be happy to be transferred somewhere new every transfer! Of course, I'm saying that now, but I have a friend from the Farmington mission who has been transferred every transfer and it is really hard for her. So, I'm not complaining, and I potentially only have 5 more weeks in Flagstaff and could get sent to the hottest place in the mission, which is everywhere else in the mission! Life is good, days are long, but things are going well here. Sorry I'm not good at writing long letters. Love you! -Sister Tolley

August 13, 2013

Soooooooo.....I'm staying in Flagstaff another transfer! And Sister Connell and I are staying companions :) She's probably bummed, but I'm so relieved! Things are about to get AWESOME here! I wouldn't want to miss the start of Fall semester at NAU! We're going to make sure we have almost too much work to do :) this will be great :) I'm glad the time is going fast for you. For me it seems not fast and not slow. But it does feel like I've been on my mission forever, and that I've been in Flagstaff FOREVER. That's another reason I'm glad I'm not being transferred yet, because I have a feeling that once I switch to a new area my mission will FLY by! :( It's done me some good so far. Straightened me out. I definitely recommend it for everyone. I improved in areas that I didn't even know needed to be improved! I thought I was a good person...but no! I was terrible! That's why I want my mission to stay slow and steady because I have a lot left to learn and only 13 more months to learn it! Well, then the rest of my life, but at least here all my weaknesses are out in front of me so obviously that it's almost humiliating so I can't hide behind them and act like I'm fine without even realizing it. Sorry if that didn't make sense, all I'm saying is I hope I come home (in a looooonnnngg time) a much better person than when I left. On that note, I'm sorry for treating all of you badly. Especially you, Mom. I am a huge BRAT! I am so selfish! But I'm getting better :) "Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by His grace, and His great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things." Jacob 4-7 And yes, you can link my Mormon.org page to my Facebook page. I will do that eventually, too :) when I'm on FACEBOOK! Crazy! Still don't know when, but a member of our Mission Presidency came this weekend to talk with our Stake Presidency about it, so it's official :) official-er.... My suggestions to Kelly are to have low-maintenance clothing, something she can just slip on and be comfortable in all day. My companions have all had dresses, and it's great, but the skirt and shirt combinations provide more outfit options, and dresses (to me) don't seem as professional. If she goes on LDS.org there is a way to look at dress and grooming standards for missionaries. She should wear colorful things, but still look professional, nicer than if she was going to Church. Something that is emphasized in this mission is to still look like a missionary at Church so you can still be recognized even though everyone is in the same attire. I was going to send home my cardigan sweaters because it's WAY too hot to want to wear them, but in this mission we are required to wear a blazer or cardigan sweater to all of our meetings, including Church meetings. That might just be a preference for here, but it's a good idea I think! The shoes we got for me were at Famous Footwear, and we just got a pair of black and a pair of brown shoes of the same brand and style called "Natural Soul by Naturalizer" and they have been the BEST shoes ever! They only hurt the very first day in the MTC and it only hurt on the top of my foot from rubbing and then it's been perfect ever since! And the soul is thick so they aren't wearing out, and it's more comfortable to wear them with those no-show socks. The only thing I wish we would have bought for me is more button-up style shirts. I feel most comfortable in those, probably because it makes me look more professional, so Kelly might not feel the same way, but if I were her, you can't go wrong with button-up shirts! And skirts with prints aren't the best idea. I've gotten rid of all my printed skirts by now... I think that's really awesome you had the missionaries over :) I only remember them being over one time and I can't even remember why or what they did or anything. But when I go home, I'm going to treat the missionaries so well! I'm going to feed them all the time, give them tons of referrals! I have to pay it forward, this ward is so good to us! So, the work is picking up a bit here. We have some potentials that we're really excited about :) We also have an investigator that is opening up a lot! It's really exciting :) Does Dad have the Preach My Gospel DVDs? They're really great! He should watch them with his Mission Prep class :) We watch parts of it every day and it always teaches us or reminds us of things that are exactly what we need that day! It's amazing :) It's kind of cheesy sometimes, the Sister missionaries are great missionaries, but they are kind of silly sometimes. I recommend it though :) Thanks for the email and for everyone writing me this week :) I can't wait to get all their letters! I love you, Mom :) See you soon! (or in a REALLY LONG TIME) :) -Kady

August 5, 2013

How would you and the rest of the family like to be a part of my mission? I have some exciting news! By the end of the month (I don't know exactly when, so don't ask), our whole mission will be on Facebook. We will be using it as a missionary tool, so I won't be using like I would if I were home, and it won't replace my email time (we can't message each other during the week, I will just be communicating with you the same way). BUT, let's say, for example, Victoria has a friend she wants to talk to about the Church. If she plans a time that I will be online, then Victoria and I can "chat" with her friend and teach a lesson. Soon we will be able to also use Skype and we can teach lessons with people on Skype around the world. Texting has become a tool to talk to people all over as well, where before we could only text people in our area. That really opens up the world. When Kelly goes on her mission, she and I can teach a lesson together whether that person is here, there, or in another country, such as China. The thing that we were asked to remember about this news is that in congruence to the June 23rd broadcast, we are fulfilling a prophesy in Matthew 24:14 which says "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations;and then shall the end come." Mom, we are able to use these tools and devices to preach to everyone all over the world. The end is near!!!!! And with this new responsibility, not only do I want to make sure I don't get distracted, but I want to use it to allow you to be a part of my mission with me! This is a tool we're asked to use not only now and for the next 14 months, but for the rest of our lives. But, it can be a distraction, so our President asked us to send you these links. This one for all my friends, family, and anyone who might get excited about me being on Facebook soon: http://azphoenixmission.blogspot.com/2013/08/an-online-proselyting-mission.html So...yeah, I'm pretty excited :) We can talk about it more next week! There are endless possibilities!!!! Anyway! Things are going pretty well for me these days. We have a new investigator named Hisini from Sri Lanka! She's Buddhist, so that makes it difficult. But she said her first prayer to God with us! It was beautiful :) We went down to the valley (that's what everyone says when they mean they go down to Phoenix or one of the cities surrounding the area) for a trainer/trainee meeting, and it was HOT! I feel so blessed to be in beautiful Flagstaff where it usually only gets to around 85 and then cools off in the rain :) Sister Connell is amazing. I love her so much! She and I have become really close. I feel like I can say anything to her, I can be very blunt with her and she can be blunt with me which is great! I hate when I have to be careful around people. I mean, of course we're nice to each other! But I don't have to be worried about what I say to her, I can just talk! It's very refreshing :) She's really getting comfortable with the mission life. I keep thinking of things I should be teaching her and should have been doing with her, so I hope I didn't mess her up too bad so far! Transfers are next week, so I'll be online on Tuesday instead of Monday :) This letter is lame...sorry. Did you get the memory card that I sent last week? Did Victoria like the ring? Does she wear it every day? :) Well, I love you!!! Talk to you soon :) -Kady

July 29, 2013

This week has been crazy! We went on exchanges with the Sister Trainer Leaders, which is done differently in this mission. One of the STLs came and stayed with Sister Connell and I went to Peoria for 24 hours with the other STL, Sister Larson :) It was so fun! Everyone said I had it easy because it was ONLY 106 degrees out. I'm used to it being no higher than 85 and then cooling off with rain every day! But it actually wasn't that bad. It was weird to be standing still and sweating, though! It's such a dry heat in the valley, way worse than Utah! But it was really fun! I got some tips and pointers on how to be a Phoenix missionary, which was great :) And I served in a trio with Sister Larson's companion, Sister Barnett :) It was so fun! On Thursday we moved to a new apartment! It's great! Sister Connell and I sleep on mattresses :) So, let me describe our old place, which is where the other sisters still live: One bedroom with a walk-in closet, one small bathroom with a sink, toilet, and bath shower, and a kitchen/study/living room. Now our apartment has only 2 sisters and this is what we've got: One bedroom, one small bathroom, a study room, living room, 5 closets, and a large kitchen with a washer and dryer :) I love it!!!! I only have a couple of complaints. Elders lived in it before so it is DISGUSTING. But it's a work in progress and I seriously love it so much! For district meeting, we watched The Work of Salvation video, which is the broadcast they had for the church about missionary work a while ago. I watched it for the Flagstaff district meeting and the Peoria district meeting, so twice this week, three times total :) But it was so good!!! I loved it all three times! I have been considering that I was called to be on a mission at this time because if I were home when this broadcast came out, I would have only seen it that one time and wouldn't have done anything about it. But because I am a missionary and it means so much to me that we have member involvement in the work, I think that this news will effect the rest of my life. I am so motivated to be part of this change! As a suggestion, and Dad doesn't have to do this by any means, maybe watching the Work of Salvation with his Mission Prep class? It's 2 hours, but I think it's really important! And there are these links we looked up and they are really good, too. I recommend everyone looking them up! They have to do with The Work of Salvation: www.lds.org/training/wwlt/2013/hastening www.lds.org/church/share Anyway :) On Saturday, we helped with a wedding reception. The husband and wife were both Mormon, but they had a Catholic wedding. I guess the husband doens't want to come back to church because he gets paid to play the piano for the Catholics. Anyway! Sister Connell and I helped prepare the food in the kitchen behind the scenes. One pot of stuff was cold so we stirred it on the stove. I had never seen something quite like it, it was a stew with bacon and hotdogs and beans in a thin, red liquid that when you stirred it, the liquid turned muddy brown. I swear, it was hotdog surprise on a whole new level. But it was fun and we got a lot of GOOD food out of it, plus some wedding cake :) I told President today that I want to have my release date be October next year. Just so ya know :) I have a funny story to tell you. Sister Connell isn't afraid of killing bugs....with her hands! So I go to her for all of my bug problems. There was a skinny but long spider on the ceiling and I asked her to kill it so she got a random hocky stick and was about to kill it, but said "it's not hurting us, let's just leave it alone." Then she said she finally got a pet and decided to name it Donald. Then next morning, Donald was gone. Well I don't know why a spider would stay in one spot for very long. But this morning, I was in the bathroom and I felt something fall onto my arm. I shook it off really quick and it landed on the sink. I thought it was a hairball, but it was a skinnny, long, dead spider! It fell off my body! Donald slept with me last night and I killed him! Serves him right! Well, that's my week. Things are going well :) I'm just loving life! Transfers are in 2 weeks and I hope I stay in Flagstaff! School is starting soon and we will be so busy as missionaries!!! Anyway :) Love you! Talk to you soon :) -Sister K. Tolley

July 22, 2013

I'm sorry you had car problems. If it makes you feel better, which I don't think it would, I actually think this will make you feel worse, we got a parking fine yesterday. I was just following the example of everyone else in the neighborhood! I had the car parked up on the curb in front of our house and got an $83 fine for parking on the sidewalk. I was just doing what I'd seen others do and I really didn't know it was against the law. The streets are one-way so I thought it was better that I get my car out of the way than to block the whole street by parking in the road, but apparently that's how they like it in Flagstaff. I'm going to call our vehicle coordinator in a bit and tell him about it, but I am pretty sure I'll have to pay for it myself. I'm really sorry :( Especially if you check my bank account and see how much I spent last week at a Native American shop. I'm sooooo sorry :( I feel really, really bad about it! I promise I will be smarter and this will never happen again. I think it's a good idea to talk up the weirdness of the temple. A reaction like "that wasn't as weird as I thought" is way better than thinking it was the weirdest thing ever and being really confused and troubled by it all. That's probably the way to do it. But I'm so glad Kelly is endowed! That's sweet! I bet they offer to do the sessions in Korean, she could probably rent a set of headphones or something :) I don't know if I told you this before, but a Phoenix mission rule is that we aren't supposed to go tracting. So finding has been pretty hard! When they divided the YSA, it wasn't a fair split. We have been working really hard at trying to build the 1st ward teaching pool back up. Our finding efforts mostly come from going to members's houses and visiting them and asking for referrals. It will be a few weeks before things start to pick up like they were, I think. But we're getting there! I'm really enjoying being a part of the Phoenix mission. The things that I've already been learning are incredible! I feel like I'm a brand new missionary! Well I still am, but I mean fresh off the plane :) I feel like the past few weeks in this new mission has helped me grow so much! Almost as if the last month of my mission in Phoenix I've learned just as much as the first 4 months of my mission in Farmington! I was definitely designed to be a Phoenix missionary. This is right, and it's perfect! I hope I'm here for the full 12-weeks of training. In a few weeks the school semester will start and there will be tons of people! And if I do stay, I'll be here until the middle of September and it should be a little cooler in other parts of the mission so it will be more comfortable in the valley wherever I get transferred :) So I will have been here for almost 7 months! Which will also be the longest time I will spend in any one area. Which is great because Flagstaff is the BEST place to serve :) It was the best in the Farmington mission and now it's the best in the Phoenix mission :) It's ultimately the best!!! Life is pretty great overall. The only thing is that we still live with the other sisters. That's all I'm going to say about that :) Something that I've learned this week is the power of vocal prayers. It's actually something that I've learned just this weekend! By my zone leaders, we were encouraged to speak our morning prayers to open our personal studies. It can be awkward with 3 other sisters in the room, but I tried it by just whispering, plus the fan is right by me which makes it even easier :) I usually like to pray outloud. Sometimes when I pray in my mind, my thoughts mix in with my prayer and it becomes a jumbled mess. The past 3 mornings in a row, I gave it a try and 2 out of the 3 mornings I received personal revelation from it! When I pray outloud, my words become my prayer which allows me to be more thoughtful of the things I want in my prayer, and it also has allowed the Spirit to be in my thoughts instead of being mixed in with the craziness! I hope that makes sense. But I have received so much revelation in the past week from having organized prayers and organized studies! I was starting to get really excited when Sister Connell and I were studying Family History that I was almost to the point of being out of control. I am not one to get excited about Family History! But I have been so filled with the Spirit when I organize myself better. I don't know if I'm just rambling or if this does make sense, but basically I have gained a testimony of having better focus and organization, and by praying outloud. Well, I love you and miss you! I hope you have a great week and I hope that you can get out to the rec center and that your car runs better :) For Victoria, you should get her a chinese finger trap and some jacks from the games at Jungle Jims for me :) haha I don't know! But did she get that box of stuff I sent home with Sister Goodman a few weeks ago? Anyway, love you :) -Sister Tolley