February 24, 2014

Hey Mom :)

I'm not sure if Dad still has his bracelet on, but I would have mine on, except I took it off yesterday because it was getting thin and I didn't want to lose it. I just wanted him to know how long I wore it :)

(Kady made a friendship bracelet for herself & Doug before she left in her mission. He wore his a long time until it stretched out enough to start falling off...)

I liked your letter! And I asked my president today when I can expect my release date. I'll keep you posted :) Time is going by soooooo fast :( I can't believe I'll be home in 4 transfers! Less than 6 months... And I've been in Glendale for almost 4 months. 

Crystal says her mom doesn't post her letters. Deni is doing well, I think! She has written me a few times but it's been a little while. Mindy is in Guatemala but I haven't heard from her. I don't think anyone else is out though!

(College soccer friends who are also all on missions right now)

I can't even describe to you how much I have grown in the past week. I've said that several weeks in a row now. I can't even begin to tell you how my testimony has grown. I have learned so much about the power of prayer. Heavenly Father answers prayers, without a doubt in mind He does. I have never experienced such free and open communication with The Spirit before now. I can't even describe to you over an email how incredibly blessed I feel! I just hope that it continues to increase and improve, not decrease, especially when my mission ends. My progression has accelerated because I feel and recognize one-on-one mentoring by The Spirit! I know this probably doesn't make much sense, but I just wanted to let you know that I'm doing AMAZING!!! I will tell you more about it someday :)

We have been focussing on helping our friends do Family History work lately. It has been so incredible to see their success! I have been so excited to find their family names with them and help connecting them together! Family History is such a blessing! One day it might be fun for me to find someone to do the work for in our family :)

I'm sorry this letter is pretty short. I love you tons and tons! I pray for you every day, at least twice :) I don't know what I would do without you! And, I feel bad for you that your winter is cold. Please keep that in mind when my summer is hot!

Love you :)

-Kady

February 17, 2014

Hey Mom!

 

President's Day doesn't mean anything for our Business Office at our apartment complex, I guess! I didn't even know it was a holiday ha ha :)

 

Yes, I write Crystal! I don't know if she has a blog, but I can ask her :) Then I will let you know what she says about it next week :) I didn't get the medical card in the mail? And someone else told me that that same character in Frozen reminds them of me! Now I HAVE to see it! ha ha!

 

This week was great! We had a baptism over the weekend :) He is turning 17 on the 26th and he's really amazing! Yesterday, after his confirmation, he said that he thought it would be awhile before he felt ready to receive the priesthood, but that his baptism and confirmation gave him more confidence and he feels like he is ready for it! He also asked how he can be a missionary right now, and is going to Mission Prep and planning on going on his mission next year! We're going to teach him about family history this week and take him to the temple in 3 weeks :) He's amazing!!!

 

We have another friend from Iran who came to the Church looking for a way to join, and meeting her just one week ago she's accepted the invitation to be baptized on March 8th! She says she feels like this is her family and she loves the Spirit :) It's hard for her to say how she feels, but she understands English well. We're pretty sure she has a testimony, but we have to ask a couple more times...

 

This week has been so amazing. Nothing significantly different or out of the ordinary happened, but it has been such a happy week! My heart has been light and joyful! It has also been full to the brim and spilling over with love for my mission! I know that sounds way cheesy, but I can't describe it any other way. I love this area soooooooo much! I love this ward! I love these PEOPLE! They are a part of my family and I can't wait for them to meet you!!!!

 

We had a Zone Conference this week and it was so fun! I love meetings :) I always learn so much from them :) I also saw Sister Connell! She seems to be doing so well :) And I'm glad, because it seems like all my companions struggle when they're with me, so I'm glad she's not struggling anymore!

I was thinking about the things I like most about missionary work. Of course, my number-one favorite thing is seeing the gospel and the Spirit change people's lives! I celebrate with people and am always way more joyful when I see their progression and conversion :) But, I thought about it, and I realized that I really like planning and organizing and seeing things come together that I work really hard to make happen. There are a lot of things that go into a successful day. We have goals, then we make plans to reach those goals, then we do everything we can to put our plan into action the BEST way we can. I live by good-better-best. And I don't do anything that is "good" or "better" if I can help it! It is so fun and challenging to try to make everything the "best." So, I decided this week that if I ever have a career, that it would be something with planning or organizing. I don't know what, but it would be something like that! So that's pretty cool :)

 

We have a friend that we have been visiting with every week to try and get to come to Church. She lives right next door! This week she came!!! She was telling me a story about what caused her to come. She wasn't going to! She turned off her alarm! But then Sacrament Meeting started and she couldn't finish her story. I think I might know what happened, though. She is a very special spirit and I know that it is the power of prayer that brought her. On Saturday afternoon, we went to visit her, and invite her, like always. I said the prayer, and in it I asked Heavenly Father to let everything fall into place to help her to get to Church. I have been trying this week to increase my testimony of prayer. In the Book of Mormon, Alma the Younger has his experience with the Messenger, as an answer to his friend's and family's prayers for him. Later, I don't remember the reference off the top of my head, but I'm pretty sure that Alma and Amulek are explaining to the people (of Mulek or something like that) who they are preaching to that the only reason they aren't being destroyed for their wickedness is because the righteous were praying for them. I know that people receive answers to their prayers. I receive answers to my prayers! I get answers to my questions and revelation to help me to do better, but I wanted to increase my testimony in the fact that prayer brings power! If I PRAY for something, I ask the powers of heaven to assist in making something happen. I know that because I prayed for this sister to make it to Church, she did, as an answer to my prayer. My testimony of the power of prayer has increased this week! When you and everyone else pray for me, and when I have faith in those prayers, I really am strengthened and supported! I'm excited to see what marvelous things come of prayer as I continue this week to increase my faith in it.

 

I love you so much and I am so grateful for you and all you do for me! Including and especially your prayers and support :)

 

Have a great week!!!

 

-Kady

February 10, 2014

Oh, hey Mom!

 

So did JD get the lead role? Is he going to kiss a girl? ha ha ha! {JD tried out for the jr high school musical...Honk Jr.  He isn't the lead, but a main character that does NOT have to kiss a girl. Much to his relief :)}

 

I know I shouldn't be talking about this, but what about the movie Frozen? I have no idea what that movie is, but two different people at different times have told me that the character Anna reminds them of me. One because of the voice and one because she is awkward? Yeah that's nice! But I was wondering if you liked that one and put it on the "list" or not?

 

I can not even begin to tell you how much I have learned and grown this week. There was a really long time where I felt like my life was on pause and we were stuck in the mud, but there has been a rapid explosion of miracles, blessings, growth, and change! The best change is that I am absolutely IN LOVE with Glen Lakes! I wasn't so sure about it for awhile, but it is so dear to me! I would be so pleased to spend the rest of my mission in this area, which is EXACTLY what I was praying for! Not that I would stay here my whole mission, but that I would want to because I would love it so much, and I do! And I don't even mind Brittany :) She doesn't hurt me anymore and I could ride her all day long! Well, I do, but I mean I don't mind it and it's gotten easy and convenient :)

 

Thanks for the Valentines Day package :) I don't remember if I got it last week or not so I don't know if I thanked you for it yet or not. Did you the two packages I sent you? Did the sister like any of the clothes?

 

I have learned such an important lesson in following the direction of the Spirit this week. There were so many times where we had made plans to do something and the Spirit had directed us somewhere completely different. I felt so blessed that we were able to recognize that and follow it. We didn't get hardly anything done that we had planned to last week, but we did everything Heavenly Father wanted us to, I think. I'll give you one example. Yesterday, Sister Clark and I were making some plans after Church to incorporate things that our Bishop and Ward Mission Leader had asked us to do this week, then we were going to do some Online Proselyting and go to our investigators' homes to invite them to our ward devotional. We called one lady to invite her and she said to call back in two hours. So two hours later we call again and her mother-in-law answers and said she wasn't home. Not 10 minutes later we got a call back from the same number. It was the mother-in-law again. She was drunk, and telling us about how she just misses her late son so bad and wants to know if he's okay but doesn't know who to talk to about it. So we went over to see her and found out that her son had killed himself 8 years ago and that she had become an alcoholic because of it. She takes some pills because she is disabled (somehow) and was planning to take them all that night and go to sleep...but because we were there, we were able to invite her to hear our message and schedule time to go by and see her again. I don't know what might have happened if we didn't go, and I don't know what will come of us going in the first place, but I know that the Spirit was prompting her in her drunkenness to call us and then prompting us to go see her and meet her. So many other little things like that have happened for us this weekend, it is amazing! I just know that the Lord knows His children and He knows what they need and when.

 

I love you so, so much! Thanks for all you do for me. I'm sorry that this school thing is such a pain. I don't think I want to write an essay, but I will go back to counseling with the Lord to know what is best. Even if I'm not a full-time student and just take some classes at UVU that might be okay...I don't know! I'll pray to know what I can do, will you pray for me, too?

 

I hope you have a great week and I will talk with you again soon!

 

-Kady

February 3, 2014

Hey Mom!!! :)

 

Yeah, I got my package :) And I shared with Sister Clark. She ate all the candy so fast! It was pretty hilarious :)

 

I don't know when or if President Taylor will tell me about when I go home...I assume he would but it doesn't appear to be the most important thing on his to-do list. Just keep me posted if you would and I will see what I can do, too :) Thanks for doing all this for me!

 

So last week was pretty good. It was way hot in the beginning of the week and then it got pretty cold again at the end. But it's not cold here like it is cold there, it just isn't very fun to be out in it for a few hours on a bike :) But I'm not complaining too much because it actually is the nicest weather I've ever had for a winter! It actually feels kind of like Fall, and it feels like I'm about to have all of those holidays again with Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc....it's weird ha ha.

 

I don't know who the Gillens are! They must have moved in after I left? I was pretty sure I knew most of the ward and especially anyone who was close-ish to my age! But I would be happy to let her have whatever she wants from the clothes I am sending home :)

 

I have a question for you and for Dad. Was your mission the hardest thing you have ever had to do? Were the months on your mission the hardest times of your lives? I'm just wondering. I've had an ongoing conversation about this with Sister Clark and I would just like to know how it has been for you :)

 

My testimony grew this week about the importance of loving life in all seasons. I do love being a missionary! I love my life today and every day. But I have been learning about the importance of choosing to love life no matter what it is like. To be honest, I would have liked to be transferred. But I am still here! I like to think of it as if my future husband and I live in a nice neighborhood with great friends and a cute house, when he gets a job transfer that causes us to move somewhere that I don't like as much. I could either wish every day that someday we will move again, or I can be happy wherever I am and love life for what it is. I choose to love Glen Lakes, even though it is harder to love than Flagstaff. I choose to love my mission even though I expect to love the rest of my life more. It would be really sad if I love my life the most on my mission! So I will love it all the same, but I will also love my life more and more as time goes on, as I have more experiences, and as I see all that there is to love about life :) I hope that makes sense? Smile, laugh, be happy, and love every day :)

 

I'm sorry that I don't have a lot to say. I love you a lot and am so grateful for your emails and letters! Tell Vic congratulations for me :) {Victoria earned her Young Womanhood Medallion}

 

Love you, Mom :)

 

-Kady