May 19, 2014

Hey Mom :)

So here is the reason why I have taken awhile to write to you. We had to take 3 hours out if our P Day today to compensate for a temple trip tomorrow. If you remember the name, Callie Davis was baptized a year ago this month and she is getting married on Friday in the temple so I am going to her endowment tomorrow afternoon :)

And then Sister Seaman wanted to go with our zone bowling so I was trying to write you and bowl at the same time. I did pretty good, I got a 95 :)

This week has been amazing! Two weeks ago we met a girl named Raquel, last week we invited her to be baptized, and this weekend she WILL be baptized! I can't believe how fast it all happened for her! I feel like that is how things will start being with missionary work. Not so much 40 years of investigating, but having those who are prepared only take a few months or weeks to  get there. The work of salvation is hastening!

So I spent $6.55 on a pair of sunglasses today... I hope that's okay!?

I love that idea from Sister Loftus! I was just talking about that same concept with the family we had dinner with yesterday. We had dinner with the Cherry family who is the fellowship of the Schafer family, and they came to dinner also. So we had everyone write on a sticky note things that are stressful right now, challenging, standing between them and their desires to be happy and serve God, and specifically for the Schafer family, things that are keeping them from baptism. Then we asked if there was anything on that list that Christ couldn't help them overcome? One of the teenage girls said, "Yeah, Christ can't help me keep my room clean." Another teenager had on "math" as one of their challenges, and the mom put on folding socks. We showed them a video about Christ and that because of Him we will live again and had them think about what that video is telling them about their challenges. We testified that Christ deeply cares about the small details of our lives. He desires our happiness, so He can and will help us to overcome any and all of our challenges. We invited them to all pick something on their list to pray about and to invite Christ to help them to overcome it. Mom, I know that the Atonement is much bigger than just to cover pain and sin. It is also to cover heartbreak, disappointment, embarrassment, guilt, fear, shame, pride, and anything else that reduces our happiness. You wanting to lose weight instead of just inches it TOTALLY something that the Atonement was designed for. Phillipians 4:13. All things, ALL THINGS, can be done, because of Him. I invite you to pray to know how you can receive the help that is being offered to you by Christ in all of your everyday matters.

The hair appointment sounds great :) thanks so much! And, ya know, I may finish up cosmetology. Might as well, right? We'll see. Something to think about much later :)

I go home from my mission 3 months from today :(

Life is really good. I love my mission. The best times are when we have teaching experiences and times where we talk with people and have truly meaningful conversations with them. There are some things about missionary work that I don't care for as much, but it's all part of the job and I really don't mind it. The hardest part about missionary work is having every little decision directly affect my companion and having every one of her little decisions directly affect me. It will be nice one day to be able to make little decisions that don't really affect anyone! I know my decisions affect everyone regardless, but it would be nice to be able to have a separate schedule. I wouldn't cut my mission short for that, though. And it's not a big enough deal anymore to complain. It is what it is. I hope to love every last minute out here.

Teaching is going well. I feel like I am pretty good at teaching on the fly :) I could whip out a spiritual thought easy, but I'm also getting really good at jumping right in to an unplanned LESSON. It's pretty fun :) we have had some days like that this week where we planned to do something and a teaching opportunity came up instead! We did really good with lessons this week. We only taught 2 lessons to investigators by ourselves. This week we had 11 lessons to investigators with members present :) total, we taught 23 lessons :) it was a good week for lessons. We usually aim for 0 lessons without members, 10 lessons with members, and 20 lessons total per week. So we did pretty good :)

I hope you are all doing well. I played soccer last P Day. It was really fun! I will be excited to play with you and to see the Littles play and play with them :)

I think that answers all your questions? Let me know :) love you, Mom!

Love, Kady

May 12, 2014

Hey Mom :) good to see you yesterday! It was fun to see more of the family, too :) I hope Dominic has a better day today. 

If I make an appointment for my hair, I would also like for it to be colored. Is that okay? But if not, a cut would be much appreciated!!! I'll take an appointment whenever. It's not like I know what I will be doing those first few days until they happen anyway :) haha.

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't be opposed to 5:30 am rec center classes :)

This week has been just amazing. Our amazing friends, the Schafer family, came to Church again yesterday! They love it :) I am sooooo excited for them. Please keep them in your prayers! 

On Friday we were in a certain part of the area, and thought, "Let's go see Linda." She is inactive and we found her from a list of names the High Priest Group Leader asked us to see who he didn't know if they even existed. We'd met her once just to see if she was there and if we could do anything for her, and reported back. But Friday we had the thought to go back and invite her to Church. We said, "Linda, will you come to Church with is?" And she said, "Yeah, I will." We must not have believed it could be that easy! We read her some scriptures and promised her some blessings and invited her again. She said, "Yeah, I said I will go with you." Guess what she did yesterday? She came to Church!!! I forget how easy it can be sometimes to invite people. That's all Hastening the Work of Salvation is; an invitation to invite those we meet to do something!

What? Booger Boy didn't like the zoo? What an egg sandwich. Just kidding ;) I love my Soul Sister!

The lesson I learned this week is how to practice temperance. A temperate person doesn't let her circumstances, environment, physical demands, or other people determine her mood or reactions. Even if I am stressed, frustrated, hungry, tired, annoyed, bored, frazzled, hot, cramping, confused, misunderstood, or if the person I am with is any of those things, I can still be in total control. Right now I am not, but it is something I am working on. I have focussed my energy on slowing my mind down and thinking rationally. My natural inclination when I am tired or hungry is to be snappy so the person stops talking to me. The one that has been getting me lately is when my companion is irritated and my reactions are either to correct her impatience or to ignore it and let it bother me. But with all the situations that may occur, I have been learning to take a step back and think about what I can do to immediately make the situation better. Maybe it's being humble and accepting criticism. Maybe it's making light of a stressful situation. Maybe it is taking a little break by taking a fun picture or talking about something silly and laughing. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. I want to be temperate, but my body is a roller coaster of emotions. Self control is the victory over this life. We are here to learn how to control our bodies by being obedient to God instead of doing whatever our body leads us to want to do. So, temperance is my current objective :)

Do you think I have changed since coming out on my mission? If so, can you share with me some examples? I don't feel like i have changed at all. Sister Seaman asked her family yesterday and they said she has changed a lot! So I am just curious :)

Love you, Mom! I think I spaced it and didn't wish you a Happy Mothers Day yesterday. I hope it was great :)

Talk to you soon!

Love, Kady

May 5, 2014

Hey Mom!

Sorry it took me a second to write you back. We had to hurry over to the grocery store!

We had a really great week! We went on exchanges on the weekend. I was with Sister Barnett and Sister Seaman was with Sister Summerhays :) I love Sister Summerhays!!! I miss her. And I really love Sister Barnett. We have gone on exchanges 3 times now :) She really is a lot of fun. Some of my favorite things about mission life include getting to know other sister missionaries. They really are such special women :)

Sister Seaman and I pretty much had the best day of our lives yesterday. An investigator family that we have been loving and helping came to Church for the first time! The whole family! All 5 of them! The father is a little nervous about being baptized and the teenage daughter has complications with her mom (the family consists of second wife and half siblings) that is keeping them from being on date, for now. But their fellowshippers are outstanding! I am really, really excited about them. I know they will be baptized soon, they just need to know for themselves! They know the Church is true, though! They are basically already Mormon! The mom was teaching and testifying in one of our lessons last week. She always says she is ready to be baptized as well as her sons, just waiting on dad. They even went with their fellowshipping family to the Stake youth baptisms on Saturday! It was so sweet, yesterday, after Church, we went to their house for a lesson and we went back over the Plan of Salvation for the dad's benefit. The 10 year old boy said, "So it's all kind of like a car! Our spirits are like the gas and the car is like our body. We put the gas in the car for it to go, but it can only go a certain distance before it runs out. And the gas coming out as smoke is like our spirits going up to the spirit world." Uh.....WHAT?! This boy isn't Mormon?!! We are soooooooo excited about them :)

I want to tell you about my study of Preach My Gospel this week. I was reading in chapter 4: "How Do I Recognize the Spirit?" The first sentence after Joseph Smith's quote really stood out to me. It made me think about how the Work of Salvation (the new name for missionary work) isn't my work, the ward's work, my family's work. I shouldn't do things my way, my companion's way, the ward's way. We need to do the Lord's work, the Lord's way. That's what we have Preach My Gospel for! True, we receive revelation for our specific needs, but it all boils down to the true and everlasting principles of the gospel. The "how" might be a little different, but the "what" and the "why" and the "when" are all the same for every person who wants to help God in Hastening the Work of Salvation. Will you as a family read Elder Ballard's talk "Following Up?"

Next week we will call at about our 3:15 which is your 4:15. I hope that still works :) I love you so much! Thanks for everything, Mom :) See you soon!

-Kady

April 28, 2014

Hey Mom!!!!!

Are you so excited to see my face in 2 weeks? :)

Yeah I'm pretty sure I will just serve in these 2 areas for my mission. It actually isn't typical to do that! There are many missionaries that stay in areas for 6 months or so, but there are few missionaries that only get transferred once! My companion has served in 5 areas and has been out 4 months less than me! Every transfer about half of the missionaries are swapped, so I get to know lots of missionaries, but for some reason a lot of missionaries I served with in Flagstaff get transferred to my zone in Glendale! So I've been working with some of the same ones more than once! Both my current zone leaders were district leaders in Flagstaff!

This week has been pretty good. It felt like the longest week ever! The first week of the transfer always feels like that, though :) 

We learned how to "plank" while riding our bikes. It was really hard and scary. We scoot back on our seats and then stick our legs back while still holding on to the handlebars. When I did it, I almost lost control of my bike but miraculously sat back upright before that happened. Don't try this at home ;) it was a pretty dumb idea, I don't think we will be doing it again!

Did I tell you that the week before last we went to the Mesa Temple Easter Pageant? If I did, I won't give you too many details, but if I didn't, I thought it was pretty cheesy and my favorite part was when Jesus ascended to heaven! It was pretty fun and cool :)

My hair is getting out of control. It's too hot to wear down and I can't wear it up with my helmet so I have to just tie it back. I really want to cut it...but I have been growing it out all this time :( I guess I'll just keep it back for now...but it is killing me!

We have seen many miracles this week! There is an investigating family that is very promising, but we lost contact with them for over a week :( we got pretty worried, but then we got a text from her friend saying she lost her phone and we can stop by anytime this week because she isn't so busy! Pray for the Schafer family!

There are also several families we have been trying to help be more active in the Church who CAME yesterday! We just need a little more ward support in retaining less-active and nonmembers. It's really exciting though! The Work of Salvation is hastening. I feel so blessed to be a part of it. I plan to be as big of a part of it as I can the rest of my life. I watch the Work of Salvation videos on LSD.org about families working together to share the gospel, and that is the ideal i have for our family and my future family. I am so grateful to be on my mission now, so i can see how important the gospel REALLY is, so I can help Heavenly Father spread the truth more than I could have without my mission. Missions aren't for everyone, I know, but for me it is vital skills training, and I can't imagine a mission being the wrong choice for anyone. Maybe not the best choice in some situations, but never wrong.

I am starting to get really attached to this ward. These are my people! I love them all so much! I have never been so involved in people's lives before. I know it's different when you are a missionary, but I have really grown to love these people :) this is my ward! If you ever want to move to Glendale, this would be the best ward to be in!!!

I hope everyone is doing well. Did you all get my letters from last week? I miss you all!

Love you, Mom! Miss you, too! See you soon :)

Love, Kady

April 22, 2014

Hey Mom!

 

SURPRISE! Today is transfers :) Sorry that I didn't remind you last week. There is a transfer P-Day on Tuesday, June 3 and then Tuesday, July 15, and then I go home August 19. So you only have 2 more weird P-Days to worry about :)

 

So, transfer news...I am staying in Glen Lakes with Sister Seaman another 6 weeks :) Yay!! We both had the feeling it would be this way. I am pretty sure I will be staying in this ward for the rest of my mission! But I am really okay with that :)

 

Easter was great! We had Stake Conference :) Missionaries are invited to the Adult Session of Stake Conference nowadays because the theme for the next while is Hastening the Work of Salvation, in case you didn't remember :) It was so good!!!! I have really grown to LOVE Stake Conference :) It was hard to love as a kid, but I love it now! As well as General Conference, Ward Conference, and other big meetings like that :) Some notes I took are: "There is no question the work is hastening. The Lord is hastening His work, and by definition, we need to be hastened. Work a little faster. Work with urgency, pray with urgency, act with urgency; if we are already, act with more urgency." from our Stake President. "Go to the temple REGULARLY. That doesn't mean once a week, but it means to be going on a regular basis, if that's a couple times a month, once a month, or whatever, GO REGULARLY." from our Mesa Temple President's wife. I also received the personal revelation that when I go home and continue to be a missionary, I want to have a "teaching pool" of friends that I am constantly working with to share the gospel with. I don't want to have time in my life where there isn't SOMEONE that I am inviting, testifying to, and being an example for. And if there isn't someone, I want to be continually looking for the next person I can influence :) Not necessarily a whole Area Book full of people like I have now, but maybe just one or two friends at a time that I can think about and pray for and help to have the opportunity to accept the truth of the gospel.

 

We aren't doing much for P-Day today. We didn't plan to do anything because we didn't know if we would be spending the day packing. But we kind of knew we wouldn't be :)

 

Did you all participate in the #BecauseofHim Easter initiative? Did you at least watch the video? Over the course of the 10 days we had access to the video, Sister Seaman and I watched it, probably over 50 times. We showed it to EVERYONE! I love it so much! I cried one of the first times we watched, but I also cried one of the last times we watched it! It is seriously so good. It's not even really an "Easter video," just a video about the truth about Christ and the Atonement. I might just have to keep using it :) But it was really cool to see so many people sharing the video and putting up pictures and testimony about Christ. I don't really remember Easters before this one, but this Easer I will remember for the rest of my life. It lasted for 10 days for me! I received so much inspiration and revelation from pondering on the resurrection and looking forward for Resurrection Day! I hope you all had as spiritual of an Easter as I did :)

 

I haven't eaten snacks, treats, desserts, or candy for over a week now! Even though people have been giving me lots of chances to eat it lately! I am really proud of myself :) I'm not even tempted! I probably won't eat stuff like that ever again, with the exception of weddings and birthdays :)

 

One thing that I am really grateful to have learned on my mission is optimism/positivity. I didn't think I was a very negative person, but I have noticed in myself the positive energy and comments that I make now, that are different than what I might have said before. I am able to see the good in the world! When things don't go according to plan, you know what? It's okay! And I mean it! My heart is so happy and my spirit is at peace because my attitude and outlook on life is so optimistic, now. I think that is a spiritual gift that I have. This week, I was able to help two of my sisters to see the positive about themselves. One who was really struggling. She has 3 kids and 2 dogs, a tiny house, no job, and a husband that is going through some emotional and mental struggles. She broke down a little bit when we popped in to see how they were doing. I could feel only love for her as I showed her what was right in her life. She cried, and I cried. The love in the room was so thick! I don't know if anyone else felt it, but it was because I really could only see the positive at that moment. "You are so strong! You are doing so well! Look at all that you have been able to do so far! You will continue to do better as you pray to our Father for help, and as we come to you to help lift your burdens!" My outlook on life is just better. Every day is a bright, sunny, happy day! Life is good! I'm weak, mortal, and make mistakes every few minutes. But that is nothing to be alarmed about, and everything is just fine anyway :) What a blessing it is to see the world through hopeful eyes. I know that there are still troubles and problems and lots of things are just not okay, even things that are wrong with this world. But I don't dwell on any of those things. I look at what positive things can be done to improve, if necessary, or I just turn my attention to something that is good :) LIFE IS SO GOOD! God is good :) I love my life and I love being happy! I am on my mission to help others be swallowed up in this same kind of godly happiness :)

 

I know I've gotten kind of cheesy on my mission, but I am expressing to you exactly how I feel :) I love you so much! Miss you, too :)

 

Love, Kady

April 14, 2014

Hey Mom!

Yeah, I am wearing the shirt you sent me in my picture :) haha! So about that, the Church is doing a #BecauseofHim this week for Easter. It is a big promotion to inspire people about Christ. If you will please go to easter.mormon.org, watch the video and read the page, that is really what it is all about. The Church wants us to take the video and share it with our friends or lead them to it on our social media pages. We also can use the hashtag to post pictures or share posts that the mormon.org Facebook page will be putting up every day. It all leads up to Easter Sunday when The Church has paid to out the video on the main page for YouTube where they estimate 109 million people will be watching it, just that day! It already has close to 100,000 views. Our finding efforts this week are geared toward the video and inviting people to share it. I sent Victoria an idea to use for this week. But people can also do what Sister Seaman and I did with our profile pictures and hashtag #BecauseofHim to be part of the worldwide efforts the Church is putting out. It is only this week, so will you help others to participate with us? Just sharing the video on Facebook or email, and just giving it to everyone! Thanks :)

This week was really great. We went to the temple for an endowment session on Wednesday morning. We went down to the Mesa temple for the 5:30 session so we could be back before studies were over. We had to get up at 3:40 :P but it was soooooo worth it! I saw the new video for the first time! My mind was blown! I guess there are 3 new ones? I have one more to see :)

We had another sleepless night the other day. Sister Seaman crashed her bike and we are worried she might have a concussion, so I woke her up every hour or two throughout the night. She's probably okay, but I wouldn't have been happy letting her die on me!

President Uchtdorf said that on Sunday morning ;)

I need to send you the rest of my winter stuff. My coats and boots mostly. I just need to get a big box :)

This week I was able to really see a lot of growth in myself. Sister Seaman told me I am the most forgiving companion she has ever had. I think I have always been a pretty forgiving person, but this week I could really see the strength that the Spirit has given me in my relationships. One of my favorite scriptures is Matthew 5:9 and I always strive to have that quality, as well as the others in matthew 5! But mostly "peacemaker." I am learning to be humble enough to change my attitude, apologize, and choose to speak in a spirit of love instead of how I usually am when I try to make people feel bad by putting them down when I am offended. But I also must say, General Conference has been so much in my mind that everything i think of to say relates to something someone said in Conference :) this just makes me think of President Holland's talk. "If your eye offends you, pluck it out. If your arm offends you, cut it off." But I hope that I can learn to continue to be more pleasant and peaceful at all times :) it definitely comes quicker now!

This month, I have been studying hope and faith from the Christlike attributes in PMG chapter 6. My faith has certainly grown! And I have learned what hope really means. It doesn't mean that there could be a hint of uncertainty and doubt, but hope is to have secure and determined assurance of truth. I know that by the end of my mission I will be faithful and full of hope :) I'm pretty excited about that!

Love you, Mom :) Be safe, smile every day, go to the temple often. 

Love, Kady

April 7, 2014

Mom! :)

I'm good (happy and healthy!), I had a great week (learned a lot, especially from conference), it was fun I guess (we had some funny times and awkward/embarrassing moments!), interesting also (a crazy story with a man who thinks he is Jesus...), didn't crash (I've gotten pretty good at riding, it almost feels natural!), watched all of conference (had one of the less-active ladies we are helping take us and she watched 3 sessions when she was planning on one or none!), my favorite talk was Elder Cook (he said "hastening the work of salvation" maybe 8 or 12 times! I wasn't counting, that was just an exaggerated guess for emphasis), getting along fine with my companion (she is a lot like me so our issues are silly because we are both always working hard and being righteous and obedient! We are just remembering that there are many ways to do the right thing :)), and don't mind the district or zone (I've had zones where I have more fun, but everyone works hard and don't annoy me!)

So, I wanted button up shirts because I am trying to look more professional. I don't want dark colors because I don't want to get hot and I don't want bright neon colors because I want to be more conservative. Maybe red or lavender or mint green, maybe grey or peach, but not blue because I have basically all blue! And could you get size small so they fit me nicely but not medium and have it baggy or extra small and have it too close to me? I just don't want print shirts because they are harder to match with stuff :) thanks mom! You could even just go to the DI if you want :) and maybe if you want to put another handy thing in my box, a fannypack for carrying water would be great! I've been thinking about it for weeks and still think it's a good idea, you do what you gotta do!

You don't need to send me the picture of the letter. She let me read it before she sent it to you :) she really wants to meet you someday. Can we come back in September one weekend so you can meet all my friends while they still remember me?

We went in companion exchanges this week. Those tend to be a little crazy! I was with the craziest sister! The first thing she did in the morning was burn a chunk of hair off her head with the blow dryer...she came walking into my bathroom with it in her hand and at first I thought she was holding a clip in hair extension! It was fused together at the place it burned off! Things got crazier from there including a time when we were sitting in a lady's house inviting her to General Conference. We were in there about 15 minutes before her dog realized we were there. But as soon as it saw us, it charged us on the couch and got up real close to me growling and barking, but not barking like all dogs do, but like it wanted to rip me to shreds! It was snarling and shaking its head and I really thought it was going to attack me. It stood there for about 20 seconds before the owners took it into the back room. I noticed in those 20 seconds that I had curled up in a ball with my foot closest to its face. In my head, I consciously decided that if it moved at me as if to bite me, I would kick it in the face. I also decided in that moment that if I kicked it and it started attacking me, I would do everything I could to kill it. Let me say, it wasn't a small dog, and the lady says it's a kind that they breed in Africa to run in packs and take down lions. But anyway, I didn't have to kill it. But do you ever think "What would i do if...?" Well, I am pleased to say that I know exactly what I would do if a dog was trying to attack me. I really believe I would have killed it if I had to!

But that has little to do with missionary work. We have found ourselves in the right place at the right time a lot this week! And it is never how we expect. We spent a little bit too much time looking at sheep the other day, but because of our delay, a person walked by that we would have missed that we were able to give a Book of Mormon! Another time, we went to see a former investigator who wasn't home when we knocked on the door, but as we were leaving we noticed they have stuffed monkeys hanging from their tree. We thought we were being quick and sneaky when we hung from their tree like monkeys to take the picture, but they were coming around the corner from their walk and caught us in the act. But when we talked with her, she said that she views it as a sign from God that we came to see her in her time of need, even when she was dropped a little over 2 years ago! We were borderline wasting time and doing inappropriate things, that ended up being perfect timing! We aren't going to be looking for ways to goof around this week, but we can see the miracles in the silliness :)

This is going to be the best week ever, though! Sister Seaman and I are getting a ride to the temple on Wednesday morning :) I am so excited!!! Speaking of temples, Callie who was baptized in May is going to the temple next month and had invited me to attend! I'll tell you about it if I go :)

What are some things we can do as a family together to apply the things we learned in General Conference?

This week we are really going to do our best to help our friends be on date for baptism! We have some who say they will, but we need to help them to actually do it. I'll let you know how it goes :)

I love you so much, and miss you, too! 

Love, Kady