Hola Familia! This week has been really rough and really good at the same time. There were a couple days where our Spirits were kind of down and we had no motivation. But Yesterday was incredible! These last couple of mornings we have sung for the mission presidents seminar. While we stand outside waiting to go sing, we see all the apostles walk into the meeting. I have seen Uchtdorf, Eyring, Scott, Perry, Anderson, Holland, and I also was able to say hi to Elder Robbins for a second. They absolutely love our singing! I am going to have to say I thing we sound pretty good myself. Our choir director said it is the best he has had in a long time. A lot of the mission Presidents have tears in their eyes after we sing. It is very powerful to have a group of full time missionaries singing praises to our Lord who we are giving our lives to. Mom, I am sending a tape with some good times and recordings of our choir. I hope you enjoy. Pictures will be coming soon with a small package I will send home probably MOnday morning. DId you get my package from Elder Robbins. I hope he picked it up at the front desk. I got your package. Thank you so much! I loved the pencil and warm leggings. The cookies were simply amazing and they will help me clear out my intestines, that is how healthy they are! Hopefully I will be able to call you around 1:30 on Monday at the airport. If I don't though, I'm sure I will find a time later in my travels. Just giving you a heads up! My flight takes off at 2:30.
A couple things that happened this week. Hma Morley and I got new mattresses in our rooms. But we also have 4 vacant beds in our room and we were instructed to take they down 2 flights of stairs. We aren't no dummies, so we took advantage of the opportunity. Tile stairs and old mattresses = some darn good fun! We rode the four mattresses down the 2 flights of stairs. It was so fun and we did it one at a time so it lasted. Don't worry we got pictures and videos. MOm and Dad, don't worry this was during our 30 minutes of free time before bed.
I was reading in Alma, my new favorite book, and these verses that I found really summarize why I am on a mission. Alma 29:6-10. Please read them they are amazing. It is sad to think that I will be parting from my companion soon. Luckily we are flying all the way to Buenos Aires together. Last night we did our last lesson in Spanish at the TE. We taught a new convert that really didn't understand the Atonement. When he said that we got excited because we love teaching the Atonement. At the end he was really impressed and me and Hma Morley walked out now knowing what we just said because we felt so guided by the Spirit. He asked us after we were done, did you bring your investigator closer to Christ? We said, yes I think so. He slapped the table and said, "you better say yes!" That feeling is none like any other. And we didn't even teach a real investigator! We really made him want to change and use the Atonement in his life. I also did my first call in the RC in Spanish. This Mexican woman who was a new member answered and it was kind of scary because she was talking so fast I couldn't understand some stuff. But I was able to share a scripture and bear my testimony.
Yo se que el Evangelio es Verdadero! La Expiacion es la unica manera a regresar a Dios con nuestros familias! I love you so much, please pray for me as I make this journey to ARgentina! YOu are always in my prayers. Te amo mucho mucho mucho!
Xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Hermana Kjar
Friday, June 26, 2009
Le Semana Mejor
June 12, 2009
Well fam,
I have alot to tell you. And first of all I just want to say a couple of words. I got dad's letter about Girls Camp, I am so sorry it was so hard. Mom and Dad, you are so patient and faithful. I am sure that was really frusturating. I was praying for you, I hope it all turns out. Dad's right, there will be something good that comes out of it. Dad did you get my email about the books last week? Mom I got your LARGE package. You are so awesome, aka Bomb.com!!! Thank you so much. I hope you didn't think I didn't like the last clothes you sent. I really did love them. I will send back the ones that don't work with the Robbins, do you know what day they are coming? Is Mary coming? Thank you so much for taking all that time for me, I love new things. I loved the stationary also. I also got my brown shoes and slips. I really like my shoes, they are just great and really comfortable. The slips will work great also. I am trying to get a tape together with some recordings of us singing and some Spanish. Did you get the list of things that I need that was included in Danner's letter? Did you look in my car for my black jacket? Look in my drawer for the pen that mary sent me. Was Katie ever able to send out thank you letters for me? Also, an Elder in my district really wants Kimball Kjar's address, he was his coach. And I need my Argentina addresses sent to me ASAP. Thank you. How is Katie, Luke, and Adam doing? I haven't heard from them in a while?
Mandy, please repost my Argentina addresses again. I think that was one of the first posts right before my mission. OH and I got the pictures of your perfect Bennett. I almost cried, really. He is the most adorable thing I have ever seen. I love the picture with the girls holding him and also with Ashton. How is Ashton dealing with it? I'll bet the girls love it. I will be sending something for Emma's birthday before I leave.
Jarrett sent me a straight up ball in the mail. Like the bouncy ones in the big cages at walmart. It wasn't in a box or anything just the ball with my address and a letter written all over it. I laughed so hard! Isn't that so clever? He is so creative.
Now on to the news of the week. Alot has happened this week. On Monday my companions Grandpa died, so that was a little hard. But he was 95 so it wasn't a huge shock. I also found out from mom that Jamon Davies died, I hope Taylor and Jordan are ok. Taylor left the MTC a couple of weeks ago. He is one of the happies people I know, just like his mom. THat was sad to hear though. On Tuesday I was chosen to be in a small MTC choir of 36 people to sing at the Mission Presidents conferences. I feel so lucky to have this opportunity. We practice everyday for an hour and then starting Thursday we will be performing in meetings every morning. These meetings will have many of the 12 apostles in them and on Sunday we will be singing in a Sacrament meeting with President Monson. I can't believe I get to do this right before I leave. I am also expecting some really good firesides this week too, since we will have a lot of the big wigs around here. Our choir sounds so good and I love the director. Hopefully I will meet my new mission President soon. Also on Thursday we got our flight plans. We fly through Dallas Forthworth then on to Buenos Aires. I think we are taking a bus to Bahia Blanca from there. Luckily my companion along with 5 other elders will be with me until Buenos Aires and then 4 Elders go with me to my mission. I love my Elders so much and I am so excited to see them grow this next 16 months.
On Tuesday I signed a Declaracion de Independencia from the English language. So my companion and I have been speaking Spanish pretty much 24-7. It is really funny sometimes because we can understand each other but we don't really know if it is actually correct Spanish. I am getting really excited to leave.
This morning I did initiatories again and I was so touched. The ladies that were there were so tender. They were all so emotional and sincere as they were performing the ordinances and it made it so good. They told me over and over that they were so grateful I came in. I felt so good this morning. I really need those blessings of good health while serving the Lord. I was teaching the Palabra de Sabaduria (W of W) this week and it all came full circle in my head. I know why I keep the word of wisdom, it is because my body needs to be healthy so I can serve the Lord for all of my life. Mom and Dad, I really want you to serve a mission. How is your health? I know it might be better to stay home and serve a missiona in the ward, but pray about it. In the firesides they talk to the older missionaries a lot. One thing they said was that as Saints we should expect to serve many missions. It is something that is required of us especially living in this time. I have met some missionaries here on their 7th mission! How awesome!
I love missionary work and am excited to get in the field but I know I will struggle with the language. Prayer for a good trainer! I love this gospel and am trying hard to keep focused. 2 people in my district leave on Thursday so we will be saying goodbye to some of them this week. It will be a sad day! Elder Beardall got surgery on his knee and has to stay 6 more weeks here at the MTC. Poor guy! Elder Brown is out of Quarantine and is doing fine. I prayer I will stay healthy. Thank you for your support! I love you so much! Y se que Dios quiere que nosotros regresemos con El con nuestros familia! Nuestra Familia puede ser Eterna!
Hermana Kjar
Well fam,
I have alot to tell you. And first of all I just want to say a couple of words. I got dad's letter about Girls Camp, I am so sorry it was so hard. Mom and Dad, you are so patient and faithful. I am sure that was really frusturating. I was praying for you, I hope it all turns out. Dad's right, there will be something good that comes out of it. Dad did you get my email about the books last week? Mom I got your LARGE package. You are so awesome, aka Bomb.com!!! Thank you so much. I hope you didn't think I didn't like the last clothes you sent. I really did love them. I will send back the ones that don't work with the Robbins, do you know what day they are coming? Is Mary coming? Thank you so much for taking all that time for me, I love new things. I loved the stationary also. I also got my brown shoes and slips. I really like my shoes, they are just great and really comfortable. The slips will work great also. I am trying to get a tape together with some recordings of us singing and some Spanish. Did you get the list of things that I need that was included in Danner's letter? Did you look in my car for my black jacket? Look in my drawer for the pen that mary sent me. Was Katie ever able to send out thank you letters for me? Also, an Elder in my district really wants Kimball Kjar's address, he was his coach. And I need my Argentina addresses sent to me ASAP. Thank you. How is Katie, Luke, and Adam doing? I haven't heard from them in a while?
Mandy, please repost my Argentina addresses again. I think that was one of the first posts right before my mission. OH and I got the pictures of your perfect Bennett. I almost cried, really. He is the most adorable thing I have ever seen. I love the picture with the girls holding him and also with Ashton. How is Ashton dealing with it? I'll bet the girls love it. I will be sending something for Emma's birthday before I leave.
Jarrett sent me a straight up ball in the mail. Like the bouncy ones in the big cages at walmart. It wasn't in a box or anything just the ball with my address and a letter written all over it. I laughed so hard! Isn't that so clever? He is so creative.
Now on to the news of the week. Alot has happened this week. On Monday my companions Grandpa died, so that was a little hard. But he was 95 so it wasn't a huge shock. I also found out from mom that Jamon Davies died, I hope Taylor and Jordan are ok. Taylor left the MTC a couple of weeks ago. He is one of the happies people I know, just like his mom. THat was sad to hear though. On Tuesday I was chosen to be in a small MTC choir of 36 people to sing at the Mission Presidents conferences. I feel so lucky to have this opportunity. We practice everyday for an hour and then starting Thursday we will be performing in meetings every morning. These meetings will have many of the 12 apostles in them and on Sunday we will be singing in a Sacrament meeting with President Monson. I can't believe I get to do this right before I leave. I am also expecting some really good firesides this week too, since we will have a lot of the big wigs around here. Our choir sounds so good and I love the director. Hopefully I will meet my new mission President soon. Also on Thursday we got our flight plans. We fly through Dallas Forthworth then on to Buenos Aires. I think we are taking a bus to Bahia Blanca from there. Luckily my companion along with 5 other elders will be with me until Buenos Aires and then 4 Elders go with me to my mission. I love my Elders so much and I am so excited to see them grow this next 16 months.
On Tuesday I signed a Declaracion de Independencia from the English language. So my companion and I have been speaking Spanish pretty much 24-7. It is really funny sometimes because we can understand each other but we don't really know if it is actually correct Spanish. I am getting really excited to leave.
This morning I did initiatories again and I was so touched. The ladies that were there were so tender. They were all so emotional and sincere as they were performing the ordinances and it made it so good. They told me over and over that they were so grateful I came in. I felt so good this morning. I really need those blessings of good health while serving the Lord. I was teaching the Palabra de Sabaduria (W of W) this week and it all came full circle in my head. I know why I keep the word of wisdom, it is because my body needs to be healthy so I can serve the Lord for all of my life. Mom and Dad, I really want you to serve a mission. How is your health? I know it might be better to stay home and serve a missiona in the ward, but pray about it. In the firesides they talk to the older missionaries a lot. One thing they said was that as Saints we should expect to serve many missions. It is something that is required of us especially living in this time. I have met some missionaries here on their 7th mission! How awesome!
I love missionary work and am excited to get in the field but I know I will struggle with the language. Prayer for a good trainer! I love this gospel and am trying hard to keep focused. 2 people in my district leave on Thursday so we will be saying goodbye to some of them this week. It will be a sad day! Elder Beardall got surgery on his knee and has to stay 6 more weeks here at the MTC. Poor guy! Elder Brown is out of Quarantine and is doing fine. I prayer I will stay healthy. Thank you for your support! I love you so much! Y se que Dios quiere que nosotros regresemos con El con nuestros familia! Nuestra Familia puede ser Eterna!
Hermana Kjar
I Love You More
June 12, 2009
Familia,
This week has been really good. I have grown a lot in my Spanish and spiritually. The best part of the whole week was devotional. Right before it started I said, wouldn't it be cool if it was Elder Bednar, I love him. Then two minutes later Elder Bednar walks in with his wife. I about peed my pants. I absolutely ate up every word he uttered. It was incredible. So he talked about the question he is always asked everywhere he goes. How do I know if I am being prompted by the Spirit or just me? He gave us the short answer then shared 3 incredible stories illustrated this in his own life. This was his answer: "Quit worrying about it! Be a good boy, be a good girl, keep you covenants, keep the commandments and walk steadfast with faith and he will guide your footsteps. Don't worry about if it is the Holy Ghost or not, every good thing cometh from God and he trusts us." He explained that there are few answers to prayers that come in a large way. The HOly ghost is quiet and subtle. It was incredible. I also love the part when apostles bear their testimonies. He said Iam a WITNESS of Jesus Christ and I know and WITNESS that he guides and directs this church. My testimony was so strengthened that night. I have a new appreciation for prophets and apostles. They speak with such power and authority.
Well this week two of my roommates left, and it was good to see how excited they are! It makes me excited, I think we will get our flight plans tomorrow. . . maybe! I can't believe I am this far. We also got 4 new sisters in our Zone. They are all so adorable. Sister Morley and I are the only other sisters so she is the RS coordinating sister and I am the music coordinator for our Zone. We had fun welcoming the sisters and getting to know them. I am trying out with another girl to sing a duet in a devotional or something so pray for me, I will do it on Thursday. I am also singing a solo in my ward on Sunday. This week we have had so much fun. We know each other so well we just love to laugh together. Our District is interesting, there are some Elders that are dragging us down a little bit. I think Pres Shelley thinks we are the trouble district sometimes. But I love them all and have learned a lot. Pray for us!
Mom thank you so much for the package. I really loved some of the things, I am glad to hear I will see Jan Robbins, that is so exciting! Where do I pick up my shoes? Hermana Morley would love that wood puzzle. So I need some pictures of Bennett! Hope your Father's day is great! I love you all.
Hermana Kjar
Familia,
This week has been really good. I have grown a lot in my Spanish and spiritually. The best part of the whole week was devotional. Right before it started I said, wouldn't it be cool if it was Elder Bednar, I love him. Then two minutes later Elder Bednar walks in with his wife. I about peed my pants. I absolutely ate up every word he uttered. It was incredible. So he talked about the question he is always asked everywhere he goes. How do I know if I am being prompted by the Spirit or just me? He gave us the short answer then shared 3 incredible stories illustrated this in his own life. This was his answer: "Quit worrying about it! Be a good boy, be a good girl, keep you covenants, keep the commandments and walk steadfast with faith and he will guide your footsteps. Don't worry about if it is the Holy Ghost or not, every good thing cometh from God and he trusts us." He explained that there are few answers to prayers that come in a large way. The HOly ghost is quiet and subtle. It was incredible. I also love the part when apostles bear their testimonies. He said Iam a WITNESS of Jesus Christ and I know and WITNESS that he guides and directs this church. My testimony was so strengthened that night. I have a new appreciation for prophets and apostles. They speak with such power and authority.
Well this week two of my roommates left, and it was good to see how excited they are! It makes me excited, I think we will get our flight plans tomorrow. . . maybe! I can't believe I am this far. We also got 4 new sisters in our Zone. They are all so adorable. Sister Morley and I are the only other sisters so she is the RS coordinating sister and I am the music coordinator for our Zone. We had fun welcoming the sisters and getting to know them. I am trying out with another girl to sing a duet in a devotional or something so pray for me, I will do it on Thursday. I am also singing a solo in my ward on Sunday. This week we have had so much fun. We know each other so well we just love to laugh together. Our District is interesting, there are some Elders that are dragging us down a little bit. I think Pres Shelley thinks we are the trouble district sometimes. But I love them all and have learned a lot. Pray for us!
Mom thank you so much for the package. I really loved some of the things, I am glad to hear I will see Jan Robbins, that is so exciting! Where do I pick up my shoes? Hermana Morley would love that wood puzzle. So I need some pictures of Bennett! Hope your Father's day is great! I love you all.
Hermana Kjar
Piggie Flu Alert!
June 5, 2009
Well Familia,
The piggie flu is live and well at the MTC! Ha ha, it is kind of ridiculous what has been going on lately. It has been an interesting week. We had missionaries who were quarantined in there bedroom for days just because they had a fever. The district in our zone was supposed to leave next week and they told them they wouldn't leave for another week, but yesterday they informed them they are leaving next week actually. So I guess things are getting better. But I know missionaries who will be here for 11 weeks to learn Spanish because of the flu scare. You see people walking around with medical masks on, it is really funny. My district got them just to be cool and weird. They parents of the new missionaries this week had to drop them off at the curb, but I think that will remain a permanent thing. We will see. I didn't see anyone I knew at the temple today. . whew!! I am glad Brett called you mom. We taught our first lessons in Spanish this week. We have taught the first lesson 4 times now. It is so hard and frustrating sometimes. But I really love it and it makes me teach more simply. THere are definitely some long pauses sometimes. it is so funny, i automatically count and pray in spanish now. it is hard for me to do some things in english. anyway, mom i am so excited to get my package thank you so much. i really need a couple more skirts, one beige color, and anothere fun one. have you ordered those shoes yet?
it is so fun to hear about the new baby, i love that he has a lot of hair. i am glad to hear everything went well. so what is his name? i hope i get some pictures soon. congrats dave and mandy. can you believe you have 4 children already? you only have 9 years to pop out 6 more, you can do it.
i have sung in the devotional choir for the last 2 weeks, and i love it. especially because there are only like 30 girls and ton of guys. me and another girl i know are working on a musical number to try out to sing for large group meetings. i am so glad my companion plays the piano. when wednesday comes we will be the only sisters in our zone because the others are leaving. but we get new missionaries on wednesday so i hope we get more sisters so the weight won't be completely on us to be the guiding mothers for our whole zone.
dad, mom and danner, thank you so much for your letters. i absolutely loved them. thanksk for the addresses. i got letters from dan's mom and also denise with the addresses also. i think i just need elise's. danner i will be writing you today. i can't believe i only have three more sundays here. i absolutely love it here. i can tell i have gained a little weight, but all is well. mom i am taking my vitamins and flossing. i love you. did you ever find my black fleece jacket? did you look in my car? i love my district so much and we are so dang close. sorry this looks illiterate, my keyboard is having problems. sorry my letters are so boring. but just know i am doing well and that the lord is leading me along and humbling me.i really appreciate all of your support, i really feel loved.
con amor,
hermana kjar
Well Familia,
The piggie flu is live and well at the MTC! Ha ha, it is kind of ridiculous what has been going on lately. It has been an interesting week. We had missionaries who were quarantined in there bedroom for days just because they had a fever. The district in our zone was supposed to leave next week and they told them they wouldn't leave for another week, but yesterday they informed them they are leaving next week actually. So I guess things are getting better. But I know missionaries who will be here for 11 weeks to learn Spanish because of the flu scare. You see people walking around with medical masks on, it is really funny. My district got them just to be cool and weird. They parents of the new missionaries this week had to drop them off at the curb, but I think that will remain a permanent thing. We will see. I didn't see anyone I knew at the temple today. . whew!! I am glad Brett called you mom. We taught our first lessons in Spanish this week. We have taught the first lesson 4 times now. It is so hard and frustrating sometimes. But I really love it and it makes me teach more simply. THere are definitely some long pauses sometimes. it is so funny, i automatically count and pray in spanish now. it is hard for me to do some things in english. anyway, mom i am so excited to get my package thank you so much. i really need a couple more skirts, one beige color, and anothere fun one. have you ordered those shoes yet?
it is so fun to hear about the new baby, i love that he has a lot of hair. i am glad to hear everything went well. so what is his name? i hope i get some pictures soon. congrats dave and mandy. can you believe you have 4 children already? you only have 9 years to pop out 6 more, you can do it.
i have sung in the devotional choir for the last 2 weeks, and i love it. especially because there are only like 30 girls and ton of guys. me and another girl i know are working on a musical number to try out to sing for large group meetings. i am so glad my companion plays the piano. when wednesday comes we will be the only sisters in our zone because the others are leaving. but we get new missionaries on wednesday so i hope we get more sisters so the weight won't be completely on us to be the guiding mothers for our whole zone.
dad, mom and danner, thank you so much for your letters. i absolutely loved them. thanksk for the addresses. i got letters from dan's mom and also denise with the addresses also. i think i just need elise's. danner i will be writing you today. i can't believe i only have three more sundays here. i absolutely love it here. i can tell i have gained a little weight, but all is well. mom i am taking my vitamins and flossing. i love you. did you ever find my black fleece jacket? did you look in my car? i love my district so much and we are so dang close. sorry this looks illiterate, my keyboard is having problems. sorry my letters are so boring. but just know i am doing well and that the lord is leading me along and humbling me.i really appreciate all of your support, i really feel loved.
con amor,
hermana kjar
Friday, May 29, 2009
MTC Hump Day
Querido Familia,
Te amo mucho! Today is officially my Hump day, I have been out for 1 month and only have one more month left! This week has been another busy one. We got rid of a district from our zone that we were really close to. They were so fun and hilarious. One of them, Elder Maxwell, has this one hair that grows randomly out of his forehead. He decided to grow it out in the MTC. They plucked this 4 in long hair the last day they were here, oh how funny! They presented this hair to me so I could make a bookmark with it. It will send pictures when the bookmark project is executed:) We recieved 8 new Elders this week in our Zone that are going to Mexico. All of them are pretty shy but we will get them to come out.
My district is actually doing really well. It is hard sometimes to see the growth when you are with them all day. But I look back and see how far we have come, it is a miracle. Elder Gerardi left last Friday, it has been a good thing for our district though. It was the right thing for him to do. So we have a threesome of elders now, only 9 in our district. I am so close to them. They are all so adorable to me and I love their little 19 year old quirks. Last night we were playing some music in our classroom and interpretive dancing. Oh I laughed so hard, Hermana Morley had some amazing modern moves while rolling around on the ground. I feel like I can totally be myself. I am going to miss the four that don't go to my mission.
We had a meeting with the Consol from Argentina yesterday. He has to meet us all before he signs our visas, so he flew in to have this meeting with us. I absolutely loved his accent and he answered a lot of questions we had about Argentina. One of the things that I liked he said was "There is a law, but it is very blurry. In America stopping at a stop light is mandatory. In Argentina it is just a suggestion." Ha ha, I am excited also for buses that don't stop, I can't wait to chase after this buses and hop in, all while being in a skirt! He also described how people are going to be very curious of why we Americans are in Argentina learning their language. That is what we want right? It made me really excited to fly away to Argentina.So this week Hermana Morley and I have been 2 days so far where we didn't speak hardly any English the whole day. It is so fun and we find it really humorous sometimes. I really love the Spanish language.
Crazy Random Story: This morning we did a sesssion at the temple. I walk into the waiting room chapel and guess who is sitting in the row in front of me? BRETT IPSON!! It was so surprising and crazy. He was with his brother Matt and his roommate. We couldn't really talk until after the session in the Celestial room, but it was good to see him. I promise we didn't plan anything and I hope he doesn't come every week because that would be a distraction. He was crying a little bit when I was talking to him about the impact of the mission and how it shapes us. I love talking to him about those kinds of things. But we had a good chat and he told me he would give you all a big hug for me!
This week we also taught the most amazing lesson to our investigator. The last 2 weeks in the TRC, where volunteers come to pretend to be investigators, we taught the same girl, her name is Merilyn. She is our age and is from Peru but speaks really good English. She has been thinking about a mission and so this week we decided to prepare a lesson for her and not a pretend person. She was surprised when we told her this but the lesson was killer. She was so touched and we had been prompted to prepare exactly what she needed. This last week she was praying and fasting for an answer. Through our lesson we helped her decide to go by sharing our experiences of how we decided to go. We were all crying and it is so good to have a real investigator for once. This is what this work is all about! If I had that much joy for helping her make that decision, I can't even imagine the joy of a baptism! I absolutely love the work of the Lord, I am trying so hard but sometimes I feel it isn't enough. I love the Lords university!
Mom and Dad, thank you so much for your letters of advice, it really helps. I will take anything I can get. How is the cabin, garage, financial situation, and ward? I would love to hear about it all. I will say that I am not jeleous I wasn't there to clean the blessed garage. But I think about you often. How is Katie? Mom I can't wait to get my package, you are the best. I did my cookie package, there was so many but again, my zone and district loved them.
THanks a million.
Hermana Kjar
Te amo mucho! Today is officially my Hump day, I have been out for 1 month and only have one more month left! This week has been another busy one. We got rid of a district from our zone that we were really close to. They were so fun and hilarious. One of them, Elder Maxwell, has this one hair that grows randomly out of his forehead. He decided to grow it out in the MTC. They plucked this 4 in long hair the last day they were here, oh how funny! They presented this hair to me so I could make a bookmark with it. It will send pictures when the bookmark project is executed:) We recieved 8 new Elders this week in our Zone that are going to Mexico. All of them are pretty shy but we will get them to come out.
My district is actually doing really well. It is hard sometimes to see the growth when you are with them all day. But I look back and see how far we have come, it is a miracle. Elder Gerardi left last Friday, it has been a good thing for our district though. It was the right thing for him to do. So we have a threesome of elders now, only 9 in our district. I am so close to them. They are all so adorable to me and I love their little 19 year old quirks. Last night we were playing some music in our classroom and interpretive dancing. Oh I laughed so hard, Hermana Morley had some amazing modern moves while rolling around on the ground. I feel like I can totally be myself. I am going to miss the four that don't go to my mission.
We had a meeting with the Consol from Argentina yesterday. He has to meet us all before he signs our visas, so he flew in to have this meeting with us. I absolutely loved his accent and he answered a lot of questions we had about Argentina. One of the things that I liked he said was "There is a law, but it is very blurry. In America stopping at a stop light is mandatory. In Argentina it is just a suggestion." Ha ha, I am excited also for buses that don't stop, I can't wait to chase after this buses and hop in, all while being in a skirt! He also described how people are going to be very curious of why we Americans are in Argentina learning their language. That is what we want right? It made me really excited to fly away to Argentina.So this week Hermana Morley and I have been 2 days so far where we didn't speak hardly any English the whole day. It is so fun and we find it really humorous sometimes. I really love the Spanish language.
Crazy Random Story: This morning we did a sesssion at the temple. I walk into the waiting room chapel and guess who is sitting in the row in front of me? BRETT IPSON!! It was so surprising and crazy. He was with his brother Matt and his roommate. We couldn't really talk until after the session in the Celestial room, but it was good to see him. I promise we didn't plan anything and I hope he doesn't come every week because that would be a distraction. He was crying a little bit when I was talking to him about the impact of the mission and how it shapes us. I love talking to him about those kinds of things. But we had a good chat and he told me he would give you all a big hug for me!
This week we also taught the most amazing lesson to our investigator. The last 2 weeks in the TRC, where volunteers come to pretend to be investigators, we taught the same girl, her name is Merilyn. She is our age and is from Peru but speaks really good English. She has been thinking about a mission and so this week we decided to prepare a lesson for her and not a pretend person. She was surprised when we told her this but the lesson was killer. She was so touched and we had been prompted to prepare exactly what she needed. This last week she was praying and fasting for an answer. Through our lesson we helped her decide to go by sharing our experiences of how we decided to go. We were all crying and it is so good to have a real investigator for once. This is what this work is all about! If I had that much joy for helping her make that decision, I can't even imagine the joy of a baptism! I absolutely love the work of the Lord, I am trying so hard but sometimes I feel it isn't enough. I love the Lords university!
Mom and Dad, thank you so much for your letters of advice, it really helps. I will take anything I can get. How is the cabin, garage, financial situation, and ward? I would love to hear about it all. I will say that I am not jeleous I wasn't there to clean the blessed garage. But I think about you often. How is Katie? Mom I can't wait to get my package, you are the best. I did my cookie package, there was so many but again, my zone and district loved them.
THanks a million.
Hermana Kjar
Friday, May 22, 2009
Te Amo
Querido Familia,I just feel so grateful for you in my life right now and for the decisions I have decided to make thus far. This morning in the temple we did initiatories because we had a meeting at 9 for our paperwork on our visas. But I am so glad we did because I love initiatories. I felt today that God is proud of me and really knows how hard I am trying. Every time I do initiatories I feel so blessed to have a healthy body and I know that God is pouring down his blessings so abundantly and I don't deserve them most of the time. Sometimes I get frusturated because I feel like I could be doing better, there is always room for improvement. But I can't let my mind do that because it just slows me down. I need to be optimistic. An EFY song that I have fallen in love with goes like this:
I don't have the words his truth deserves
He says if I make a choice
He'll help me find my voice
He calls me to serve and I cannot fail him
The man who has given me all that I have
I put my trust in him alone
He knows the yearnings of my soul
Because he believes in me I will go willingly
I take great comfort in the words of that song. I am so grateful for him and for the gospel that we have on this earth. I love sharing with people that we do have a church on this earth today that can answer every single one of their questions. Do you konw how many people are looking for that kind of knowledge? We are so blessed to born into that great knowledge. Our district is doing ok, one boy will probably go home this week. It is kind of sad, but I think it will be good for our district to move on and become better. We are speaking a lot of Spanish. Our teachers have converted over to 100 percent Spanish and Hermana Morley and I are trying our hardest to speak as much as we can together. WE are on the same level, so it is really good. We taught the second lesson in English this week and it went really well. I love teaching if the Spirit is there. I love bearing testimony and telling my investigators that God really does love them and know who they are. I can't wait until I have real investigators!! Since being here we have had Elder Nelson, Elder Ballard, and Elder Neuenschwander at our Tuesday devotions. How lucky are we? I love it. Alos, we just watched the most amazing talk by Holland at the MTC. It is called "the miracle of a mission" from 2000. If you can get your hands on it, you would love it! Danner how was your big 18th birthday? What did you do? Ben Happy Birthday on Sunday and Gracie Happy Birthday next week! Mom did you get my package with the birthday presents in them? Mandy there is package coming for your family. I will be sending more pictures soon. I am doing well and loving every minute. Please pray for me to do my best and stay focused! Te amo, te amo, te amo! Dios quiere nuestros familia ser eterna! XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Hermana Kjar (also known as Hermana "Kjar package" by my district because I got a package everyday of last week, Ha ha, thanks for your support!)P.S. I saw the Taylor Davies yesterday! He just got here, it is good to see familiar faces. Adam Bavelas is so adorable and is growing up fast! He is Zone leader and so cute!
I don't have the words his truth deserves
He says if I make a choice
He'll help me find my voice
He calls me to serve and I cannot fail him
The man who has given me all that I have
I put my trust in him alone
He knows the yearnings of my soul
Because he believes in me I will go willingly
I take great comfort in the words of that song. I am so grateful for him and for the gospel that we have on this earth. I love sharing with people that we do have a church on this earth today that can answer every single one of their questions. Do you konw how many people are looking for that kind of knowledge? We are so blessed to born into that great knowledge. Our district is doing ok, one boy will probably go home this week. It is kind of sad, but I think it will be good for our district to move on and become better. We are speaking a lot of Spanish. Our teachers have converted over to 100 percent Spanish and Hermana Morley and I are trying our hardest to speak as much as we can together. WE are on the same level, so it is really good. We taught the second lesson in English this week and it went really well. I love teaching if the Spirit is there. I love bearing testimony and telling my investigators that God really does love them and know who they are. I can't wait until I have real investigators!! Since being here we have had Elder Nelson, Elder Ballard, and Elder Neuenschwander at our Tuesday devotions. How lucky are we? I love it. Alos, we just watched the most amazing talk by Holland at the MTC. It is called "the miracle of a mission" from 2000. If you can get your hands on it, you would love it! Danner how was your big 18th birthday? What did you do? Ben Happy Birthday on Sunday and Gracie Happy Birthday next week! Mom did you get my package with the birthday presents in them? Mandy there is package coming for your family. I will be sending more pictures soon. I am doing well and loving every minute. Please pray for me to do my best and stay focused! Te amo, te amo, te amo! Dios quiere nuestros familia ser eterna! XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Hermana Kjar (also known as Hermana "Kjar package" by my district because I got a package everyday of last week, Ha ha, thanks for your support!)P.S. I saw the Taylor Davies yesterday! He just got here, it is good to see familiar faces. Adam Bavelas is so adorable and is growing up fast! He is Zone leader and so cute!
Friday, May 15, 2009
Que pasa calebaza?
Como le fue su semana? This week was definitely a good one. We had many amazing experiences as always. Hmmmm.. . I never know where to start in these emails.
Well my Hermana Morley and I set up a lot of appointments at the teaching evaluation center lately. It has been so good! I am surprised at the compliments we have been given by the teacher mentors. We have become a lot better at getting to know the person first, then teach through the Spirit according to their needs. And sometimes we might only cover 1 principle from the first discussion, but that is ok.
I have learned so so much about teaching lately. I have grown to love love love teaching. We teach really good together and we teach the same way, we are so much alike, it is so funny. A couple of really cool experiences we have had lately. . . we made a goal to contact 2 people a day, English or Spanish. We went to dinner and saw 2 construction workers eating together, they were a little rough looking but it looked like a great opportunity. So we approached them and started getting to know them. I asked if we could share our testimonies with them and one said, well I am an athiest but go ahead. The other younger man with earrings said they both grew up in the church but he became inactive a couple years ago at 18. So this was perfect! I was so happy when I found out they weren't members. So we bore our testimonies about how Christ loves us individually and he has a plan for us and wants us to be happy. If we pray to know the truth and if this church is really true he will answer us, I know this because he has answered my questions. I could tell the younger one was listening intently and we might have sparked something. But then we said thank you and left. Even though they didn't commit to anything it made me so happy and I wanting to go tracting and get some doors slammed in my face! It is crazy how it excites me! I just love telling people that my God really does know me because it strengthens my testimony and makes me feel so happy.
We have also been chatting online in the Referral Center with people to get on to chat at mormon.org. I have chatted with a few people who have had some questions. I love telling them that our church can answer ALL of the questions they have. And I don't have to doubt that, I know it! I am so grateful for that comfort of knowing that!
Thank you, thank you, thank you everyone for making my birthday so Fun! I got 4 packages and many letters from friends and family! Mom my district says that you take care of them more than their mom does. So you have been voted to be our district mom! We had so much fun with the cake and other goodies, it was a good day. My district made it their responsibility to scare me everytime I walked in the room so I had enough birthday scares, don't worry Danner! Tell mary I got her package and I am sending her a letter today! Stacey, Mandy, Katie, thank you so much for your wonderful packages too!
Our district is still working on exact obedience, so please pray for us. WE have had some Elders really struggling to know if they really want to be on a mission. I know I was meant to be in this District to provide support though. I love them so much and I see so much potential in all of them. They just need to put away childish things and become men.
Well, I am really trying to focus 110% of my thoughts and time to my mission. So I am trying to not think about things at home and college a lot. This is the only 18 months that I have with just me and the Lord and I want to make it the best. So I still want to hear from all of you, but I won't be writing a lot of letters. Please stay updated on my blog! Sorry but I really need to have total focus.
I love you all so much, your support means so much and I pray for you every night. I really do feel your prayers for me!
Love you more! God speed!
Hermana Kjar
Well my Hermana Morley and I set up a lot of appointments at the teaching evaluation center lately. It has been so good! I am surprised at the compliments we have been given by the teacher mentors. We have become a lot better at getting to know the person first, then teach through the Spirit according to their needs. And sometimes we might only cover 1 principle from the first discussion, but that is ok.
I have learned so so much about teaching lately. I have grown to love love love teaching. We teach really good together and we teach the same way, we are so much alike, it is so funny. A couple of really cool experiences we have had lately. . . we made a goal to contact 2 people a day, English or Spanish. We went to dinner and saw 2 construction workers eating together, they were a little rough looking but it looked like a great opportunity. So we approached them and started getting to know them. I asked if we could share our testimonies with them and one said, well I am an athiest but go ahead. The other younger man with earrings said they both grew up in the church but he became inactive a couple years ago at 18. So this was perfect! I was so happy when I found out they weren't members. So we bore our testimonies about how Christ loves us individually and he has a plan for us and wants us to be happy. If we pray to know the truth and if this church is really true he will answer us, I know this because he has answered my questions. I could tell the younger one was listening intently and we might have sparked something. But then we said thank you and left. Even though they didn't commit to anything it made me so happy and I wanting to go tracting and get some doors slammed in my face! It is crazy how it excites me! I just love telling people that my God really does know me because it strengthens my testimony and makes me feel so happy.
We have also been chatting online in the Referral Center with people to get on to chat at mormon.org. I have chatted with a few people who have had some questions. I love telling them that our church can answer ALL of the questions they have. And I don't have to doubt that, I know it! I am so grateful for that comfort of knowing that!
Thank you, thank you, thank you everyone for making my birthday so Fun! I got 4 packages and many letters from friends and family! Mom my district says that you take care of them more than their mom does. So you have been voted to be our district mom! We had so much fun with the cake and other goodies, it was a good day. My district made it their responsibility to scare me everytime I walked in the room so I had enough birthday scares, don't worry Danner! Tell mary I got her package and I am sending her a letter today! Stacey, Mandy, Katie, thank you so much for your wonderful packages too!
Our district is still working on exact obedience, so please pray for us. WE have had some Elders really struggling to know if they really want to be on a mission. I know I was meant to be in this District to provide support though. I love them so much and I see so much potential in all of them. They just need to put away childish things and become men.
Well, I am really trying to focus 110% of my thoughts and time to my mission. So I am trying to not think about things at home and college a lot. This is the only 18 months that I have with just me and the Lord and I want to make it the best. So I still want to hear from all of you, but I won't be writing a lot of letters. Please stay updated on my blog! Sorry but I really need to have total focus.
I love you all so much, your support means so much and I pray for you every night. I really do feel your prayers for me!
Love you more! God speed!
Hermana Kjar
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)