Here are Katy's last two letters. Sorry I didn't get last week's posted earlier!
HEY HEY EVERYONE!
So it has been an interesting week. To tell you the truth I can't believe another week has gone by. It feels like this week flew by with conference and everything. I LOVED conference. I am always surprised how fast its over. I used to have a hard time lasting the whole two hours but not as a missionary. HAHA. I was so sad to see it end. We were so blessed to have so many nonmembers come to listen to the prophet. We had a huge portion of our investigators there. YIPPEEE! Our ward members are awesome in the singles ward. On Sunday they invited so many of their friends to come and then in between we went to central park for a picnic with all of them. I didn't get to eat because I was bouncing around trying to meet all of these people. I got to teach a restoration and give a Book of Mormon away instead of eating. Totally worth it! It was awesome! I love our Julliard and Columbia students. They are just the best!
So those of you who know me well know that I LOVE pumpkins. And something so cool about new york that I just realized is that because there are little markets everywhere there are pumpkins everywhere too!! It's awesome!!!!!! I love it. Then for the relief society activity last night they made desserts made with PUMPKIN!! O it was such a joy! Tender mercies from the Lord! Good thing for the pumpkins because mail has been so weird lately that I have only gotten two letters the last two and a half weeks. I did get your package though mom. I just picked it up from the post office and its sitting behind me waiting to be opened when I get home. Thank you ahead of time. You are always so thoughtful.
So sadly this week we had an appointment with an investigator and he told us he was not willing to give up certain things in his life that would enable him to be baptized. It was a very sad lesson for us. But I know that he will be ready one day. I read to him Ether 12:27 and just talked about how we all have weaknesses and that's how the Lord intends it. So that we can overcome them and grow. And that is possible because of the grace of our Savior Jesus Christ. Which is sufficient to save ALL souls. How blessed we are to know that! I am also learning a lot about my weaknesses and challenges. I know my Heavenly Father puts things in my path to help me to grow not just to watch me stumble. He has a perfect plan for me to become what He wants me to become. A refiners fire. Our challenges in life are not simple or easy but they are personally picked to be what we need to overcome our imperfections. The trick to use those challenges to grow rather than to shrink back and refuse to move forward. I am so grateful for the challenges I am given.
It is getting cold here. Everyday more and more layers are being put on. haha. Right about now it feels like Vegas winter weather. I remember when I thought this was unbearably cold. haha. oooo silly silly me. They say this is goin to be a rough winter. So I know how Kevin is feeling there in Idaho although we don't have snow yet. I was talking to the president's daughter who grew up in Rexburg about the winters there and comparing them to here. They are different in the fact that the humidity here causes the cold to CUT YOU TO THE CORE!!! burr... not looking forward to that buuuuuuuuuuttt thank goodness for thermal underwear and woolen socks!!! haha. Today is suuuuuuuper windy and we didn't know that until we were outside and sister ganaha and i are wearing very... flowy we will call it skirts. Pretty much I regret wearing this skirt. haha. We both were like running to the bus squealing and trying to keep our skirts down while sis dantes just laughed her head off behind us. haha.
So something super sweet this week.. WELL to me at least. Our ward mission leader's wife just had a baby and we went over for dinner and sis Petersen was in the kitchen cooking and bro Petersen was doing something else and the baby was in the crib screaming and so bro Petersen said ... Sis Wadsworth can you please pick him up for me...? I promise I wont get you in trouble. We are not allowed to hold children because of legal liabilities. SO ... I totally half way picked him up and let his feet touch the bottom of the crib so I wasn't really holding him. hahaha. It was so awesome though I miss really playing and being with kids.
Well it sounds like you guys had a fun conference weekend. Tell Devan and Kelsi I said congrats! That's going to be so fun for all of them.
So our companionship is going great! I am learning a lot and am so grateful for both of my companions. They are such great examples to me.
Well family and friends. I love you so much thanks for your love and support!
LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK!
-KAITLYN
OOOOOOOOOOKAY
So here is the transfer details. So I am with a Sister who came to my area and I also get to stay with sis ganaha. YAY!! So I guess that means I have a lot to learn from them. It will be interesting but I know Heavenly Father is in control. Its going to be an awesome cycle. So ... keep sending mail to the same address! ! !
So we did get to go to the relief society conference. It was so wonderful. We had to leave a little early so we could get home before 10:30. It was crazy to be out that late.haha.. i know woowww 10:30.. haha.I am sooo excited for conference this weekend. Its such an energizing experience. I love love love love love itttttttttttttttttttt!
Soo this weekend was amazing and also frustrating. Its always a roller coaster. So we started the week with sis smith (mission president's daughter). She was only with us for 3 days. Shes almost 25 and is only doin this until she figures out what she wants to do now that she is graduated. She is so amazing and it was a pleasure to see her. We got some great new investigators this week. One guy from Taiwan, one from Nigeria and one from China. Its so cool. We are also working with a girl from our service that is from Thailand. THIS IS THE COOLEST MISSION EVER!!! HAHA. One is a member referral and is so amazing. He is working on his faith in Christ but he loves the church and knows there is something different about us. He plays the violin at Julliard. We had dinner in the Julliard dorms on Saturday night. It was so cool to be with all these amazingly talented people. They are so humble too.
So because we weren't sure if one of us would be leaving we set an appointment with an investigator yesterday and he was SOOo excited that we weren't leaving. He is so great. He wrote us an awesome letter just expressing his appreciation for us and for the church. Then we had a lesson on missionary work and talked about when he could serve a mission and he is excited to serve! HOW AMAZING IS THAT??? He is not even baptized yet but he is already desiring to serve a mission.
It's getting cold here. I have already started to wear my lighter coat. My PUFFY hasn't come out yet. Hopefully that won't happen till the snow comes. I think I forgot how cold it gets here. ... I am not looking forward to that. BUT THE WORK MUST GO FORTH!
So a little info about my new comp. I actually lived with her in my first apartment. She is originally from Haiti and moved to Florida when she was a teenager. We have soo many people from Haiti in our area so it will be so great to have her with us.
Well I'm excited for what is to come this cycle. I expect to see so many miracles like we have been seeing. Keep praying for me like I know you do. I am so grateful to be part of this work. Even if things are hard or people let us down I know I can be happy because this is God's work and it will never cease to move forward. I am so lucky to be here and to be serving my Heavenly Father. How lucky I am that He trusts me enough to do this. PRAISE GOD! :D
Love you all to the moon and back!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Things have been crazy today. We had conference cleaning and trains were taking so long and all the computers are down at all the libraries and so it took forever to find somewhere to email. We are currently at the church's family history center.
Anywaysssssssssssssss
So this is what has gone down this week.
Gene had his 92nd birthday and so sis ganaha and I went and had some sugarless cake with him. It was fun! I can't believe how old he is but it was great to be with him. We wore party hats and he blew out his candles and everything.
So right now something kinda cool is that I am in a three person companionship until the end of the cycle with the mission president's daughter Dani. It's so great because we can go into any apartment. haha. Shes awesome too. So its a privilege to be with her. Yesterday we had our first appointment with her and we taught this lady I contacted what feels like forever ago. We have kept trying to teach her but something would always come up until yesterday. The spirit was so strong in the appointment and she accepted a baptismal date and committed herself to come to church. She loved the story of Joseph Smith because she said she felt like that too! I will let you know how it goes in the future.
We also had another appointment with our cute little Chinese investigators. THEY ARE SO AMAZING! We watched Finding Faith in Christ and I asked them how it made them feel to know that Christ did that for them and they said it really touched them. They are excited to come to church this Sunday. We are going to have such a great Sunday I know it... It will probably be my last Sunday in this ward (I'm praying its not) but looks like it might be with transfers.
Our investigators are doing well. They came to church on Sunday. They rock. We couldn't find one right after church on Sunday and so we were scared he got offended somewhere and left early. But when we called him that night he explained that he was just in the chapel waiting for the stake priesthood session to start. crazy huh? he is so amazing.
OK NOW ON TO THE COOLEST THING THAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK!!!!!! Soooooooo Sunday night president called us and asked us to be at the church the next day from 3-6 for a special assignment. He wanted sister ganaha for something and so I thought I was just there for the ride butttttttttt long story short. Because the yearly opening of the UN was here in New York a lot of dignitaries were here. So the emperor of Palau (google it haha) was coming to the church to learn more about us. He wanted to go to temple square but time didn't permit and so someone from the seventy called our public affairs office and asked them to set something up. SOOO they asked me to sing for him. AHHH. I got to sing with Elder Butler who is the nephew of the Greens and another missionary from Hawaii. It was so cool. We sang Families can be together forever and I am a child of God. It was cool. The Empress totally cried!! The problem was we actually were there from 3-8pm. It was the first day (and hopefully the last) that I didn't do any missionary work (well the regular stuff). After the meeting they took us to dinner. It was so weird. I felt really sick pretty much the whole day and so I just kept trying to smile and pretend I was not feeling sick. Anyways it was really neat. There were 8 of us missionaries there. The companions of those of us who sang and then a few who answered questions. It was SWEEEEEEEEET! But I was excited to go back to regular life the next day.
We are seeing so many miracles and I am praying I get to stick around and see more this next cycle. I just found out that two of my last roomies got their mission calls. Both to the Philippines. How cool is that? Another one is going to Iowa. So now there are 4/6 of us on or going on missions. HOW COOL IS THAT???
I am so grateful to be serving. Things are changing a lot in our mission. We have not got any new English sister missionaries lately and in two transfers all of the English sisters but me and 3 others leave. I am really scared about what is to come but I know that whom God calls He qualifies. I can do whatever He asks of me. *DEEP BREATH*. :D I am so grateful for the blessings and miracles God places in our lives. This gospel is the greatest news and we must shout it off of the hill tops. Next email... we will see where I am. I love you all. Pray for me!!!
Anywaysssssssssssssss
So this is what has gone down this week.
Gene had his 92nd birthday and so sis ganaha and I went and had some sugarless cake with him. It was fun! I can't believe how old he is but it was great to be with him. We wore party hats and he blew out his candles and everything.
So right now something kinda cool is that I am in a three person companionship until the end of the cycle with the mission president's daughter Dani. It's so great because we can go into any apartment. haha. Shes awesome too. So its a privilege to be with her. Yesterday we had our first appointment with her and we taught this lady I contacted what feels like forever ago. We have kept trying to teach her but something would always come up until yesterday. The spirit was so strong in the appointment and she accepted a baptismal date and committed herself to come to church. She loved the story of Joseph Smith because she said she felt like that too! I will let you know how it goes in the future.
We also had another appointment with our cute little Chinese investigators. THEY ARE SO AMAZING! We watched Finding Faith in Christ and I asked them how it made them feel to know that Christ did that for them and they said it really touched them. They are excited to come to church this Sunday. We are going to have such a great Sunday I know it... It will probably be my last Sunday in this ward (I'm praying its not) but looks like it might be with transfers.
Our investigators are doing well. They came to church on Sunday. They rock. We couldn't find one right after church on Sunday and so we were scared he got offended somewhere and left early. But when we called him that night he explained that he was just in the chapel waiting for the stake priesthood session to start. crazy huh? he is so amazing.
OK NOW ON TO THE COOLEST THING THAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK!!!!!! Soooooooo Sunday night president called us and asked us to be at the church the next day from 3-6 for a special assignment. He wanted sister ganaha for something and so I thought I was just there for the ride butttttttttt long story short. Because the yearly opening of the UN was here in New York a lot of dignitaries were here. So the emperor of Palau (google it haha) was coming to the church to learn more about us. He wanted to go to temple square but time didn't permit and so someone from the seventy called our public affairs office and asked them to set something up. SOOO they asked me to sing for him. AHHH. I got to sing with Elder Butler who is the nephew of the Greens and another missionary from Hawaii. It was so cool. We sang Families can be together forever and I am a child of God. It was cool. The Empress totally cried!! The problem was we actually were there from 3-8pm. It was the first day (and hopefully the last) that I didn't do any missionary work (well the regular stuff). After the meeting they took us to dinner. It was so weird. I felt really sick pretty much the whole day and so I just kept trying to smile and pretend I was not feeling sick. Anyways it was really neat. There were 8 of us missionaries there. The companions of those of us who sang and then a few who answered questions. It was SWEEEEEEEEET! But I was excited to go back to regular life the next day.
We are seeing so many miracles and I am praying I get to stick around and see more this next cycle. I just found out that two of my last roomies got their mission calls. Both to the Philippines. How cool is that? Another one is going to Iowa. So now there are 4/6 of us on or going on missions. HOW COOL IS THAT???
I am so grateful to be serving. Things are changing a lot in our mission. We have not got any new English sister missionaries lately and in two transfers all of the English sisters but me and 3 others leave. I am really scared about what is to come but I know that whom God calls He qualifies. I can do whatever He asks of me. *DEEP BREATH*. :D I am so grateful for the blessings and miracles God places in our lives. This gospel is the greatest news and we must shout it off of the hill tops. Next email... we will see where I am. I love you all. Pray for me!!!
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Trying to shine
Well, *sigh* this week has been tough. So I will just start by saying that all three of our baptisms have been canceled/postponed. That has never happened to me before and so its hard to not get discouraged. It has really been a humbling experience. It's hard sometimes to not get discouraged but I know that this is Heavenly Father's work and I am not in control of anyone but myself. So as I do everything in my power to follow him and be a good missionary I know that all will work out. Good thing its not all about numbers or I would be going crazy. LOL
So on to the more happy things about this week. I finally got to try pinkberry. O man it was delicious. But I cant believe how expensive it is. Luckily a member took us :D. I remember Jodi talking about it once and now I know why. haha. We got two awesome new investigators this last week. They are both from China and really have no concept of God or religion. They are both so excited to learn more about God and how to come closer to Him. We taught them about prayer and they were so excited to do it. They have so many questions and its so fun to teach but also so hard to get them to understand things that they really have never heard before. I found myself relating how the holy ghost feels to how it feels when we like a boy. HAHA. "You cant explain it ... its just inside of you". Lol. It's so cool being a missionary here because I feel like I am teaching the whole world. The new york new york north mission = the mission of the world. That's what one of our members told us because we teach people from all over. It's sweet.
Something also very sweet about being a missionary here is I get to meet and see famous people. Especially famous Mormons. So I was sitting with my investigator in sacrament meeting on Sunday and this boy walks by and I was like ..eeeeek... thats totally DAVID ARCHULETA!! haha. He was so cool. He was wearing a white shirt and tie and everything. Looked just like he did on TV. Just a very sweet guy. I'm not going to lie it was hard to focus during sacrament meeting. I kept thinking ... Hes totally sitting behind me... Hes totally singing this same song with me. hahaha. Anyways it was cool.
We are not doing anything fun this pday. We just took a long nap and relaxed because after this week I couldn't handle anything stressful. haha. Please continue to pray for me and for my investigators. I know that there will be miracles. I am excited to see what God has around the corner as we continue to move forward in faith. This is such an amazing work. I love this gospel with all my heart and I know that no matter the sacrifice we make for it, its worth it. I am grateful for the power of the Atonement and that no one is too far out of our Savior's reach. What an amazing blessing it is to have this knowledge and to have access to the Atonement through the restoration of the gospel.
Love you all to the moon and back..
So on to the more happy things about this week. I finally got to try pinkberry. O man it was delicious. But I cant believe how expensive it is. Luckily a member took us :D. I remember Jodi talking about it once and now I know why. haha. We got two awesome new investigators this last week. They are both from China and really have no concept of God or religion. They are both so excited to learn more about God and how to come closer to Him. We taught them about prayer and they were so excited to do it. They have so many questions and its so fun to teach but also so hard to get them to understand things that they really have never heard before. I found myself relating how the holy ghost feels to how it feels when we like a boy. HAHA. "You cant explain it ... its just inside of you". Lol. It's so cool being a missionary here because I feel like I am teaching the whole world. The new york new york north mission = the mission of the world. That's what one of our members told us because we teach people from all over. It's sweet.
Something also very sweet about being a missionary here is I get to meet and see famous people. Especially famous Mormons. So I was sitting with my investigator in sacrament meeting on Sunday and this boy walks by and I was like ..eeeeek... thats totally DAVID ARCHULETA!! haha. He was so cool. He was wearing a white shirt and tie and everything. Looked just like he did on TV. Just a very sweet guy. I'm not going to lie it was hard to focus during sacrament meeting. I kept thinking ... Hes totally sitting behind me... Hes totally singing this same song with me. hahaha. Anyways it was cool.
We are not doing anything fun this pday. We just took a long nap and relaxed because after this week I couldn't handle anything stressful. haha. Please continue to pray for me and for my investigators. I know that there will be miracles. I am excited to see what God has around the corner as we continue to move forward in faith. This is such an amazing work. I love this gospel with all my heart and I know that no matter the sacrifice we make for it, its worth it. I am grateful for the power of the Atonement and that no one is too far out of our Savior's reach. What an amazing blessing it is to have this knowledge and to have access to the Atonement through the restoration of the gospel.
Love you all to the moon and back..
Sunday, September 13, 2009
So blah... I'm so flustered right now because we just went to get hair cuts and we went to a hair school that was giving away free hair cuts... should have known it was a bad idea. I knew they would be new and so I just asked for a trim... an hour later I find my hair less than an inch shorter... I was like .. ok that's good thanks. Then my comp had to go and she has about 1967969 times the amount of hair I do and she wanted layers... haha. 2 and a half hours later... she was also disappointed in her cut and we left. haha. Any whoo I am just glad its over. BUTTT BACK TO THIS WEEK
So we have been meeting with one of our investigators regularly and he is so fantastic. He is so excited about his baptism. We had an interesting lesson on Thursday though. So he lost track of time and was late for his appointment (which is so not like him btw). And so instead of going to our usual spot we decided to just teach him on a bench. So there we were just minding our own business when this homeless man came up and begged for money. We kindly declined but he was not ok with that. He yelled and was obviously drunk and or high and was like "you have bibles in your hands you hypocrites" blah blah blah. We tried to talk to him like a human being and asked him his name and he was not having any of it. He decided he wouldn't leave until we gave him something. He said "I do this for a living, you think I am amature? that you are the first people I have asked for money from? I have gotten money from celebrities!" Then he so sweetly named all the celebrities who had given him money. Mean while I looked over at our sweet little investigator and he was saying a prayer! It was so cute! Finally the member we were with was like fine, I will take you to buy something to eat. The best part about the story is that we were teaching about Tithing and Fast offerings and how you can be at peace knowing that the money you donate goes to people who really need it and its not given as handouts which foster dependency on other. It was ridiculous but nice to use as an example in our lesson. I wanted to point something out too that's pretty sweet. Our investigator is a student at Columbia university. And since he lives in the dorms there we teach him on campus. So... I TEACH AT COLUMBIA! Woot and Ivy League school .. at my age. Who woulda thought? haha. The campus is so beautiful. We also have Julliard in our area now. Those students are so great!
Something cool that happened this week is that Thursday night the zone leaders called us and told us that we were going on a split with sis smith (the mission president's wife) the next day! I was super nervous but also excited because I always here about the miracles that the elders see when they go on splits and especially when with the president. It was her first time doing it and the reason she was doing it is because President Bednar told her that she needed to go out with the sisters and see what we go through, a King Benjamin approach. So she came to our appointment and we taught the Word Of Wisdom. It was a powerful lesson and I talked about Grandpa Tom and how amazing he was and I was getting super emotional and I got the feeling that I needed to extend him a baptismal date. And to this point he hadn't and skirted around the idea every time. But I followed my prompting and HE ACCEPTED!!!! Yay! He is now progressing toward his baptism and is excited about it! It was such a cool experience. It will be so good for both this young man and his recent convert father. So we got to see a miracle with sis smith. Shes so sweet too it was nice to get to know her better. Shes much different than sis searle. I would just describe her as fun and young and spunky.
So yesterday at service they were totally filming law in order at the church above the food pantry we work at. How cool is that? Too bad I have never seen the show before or maybe I would have recognized the celebrities. hahaha
So I got your package. Thanks a million. You are so sweet. I love the rice. I will live off of it. But now that we are in two wards we are getting a lot more meals. We got to go to this place this week called mamma mexico's. They make you fresh guacamole right at your table! So cool. We don't usually get to go out to eat but it was a nice treat!
We are excited for a baptism on Friday! She is so excited too. The whole Young Women's is also excited! That will make 6 yw now I think. Life is so different on this side of the country.
LOVE YOU ALL TO THE MOON AND BACK!
-taters
So we have been meeting with one of our investigators regularly and he is so fantastic. He is so excited about his baptism. We had an interesting lesson on Thursday though. So he lost track of time and was late for his appointment (which is so not like him btw). And so instead of going to our usual spot we decided to just teach him on a bench. So there we were just minding our own business when this homeless man came up and begged for money. We kindly declined but he was not ok with that. He yelled and was obviously drunk and or high and was like "you have bibles in your hands you hypocrites" blah blah blah. We tried to talk to him like a human being and asked him his name and he was not having any of it. He decided he wouldn't leave until we gave him something. He said "I do this for a living, you think I am amature? that you are the first people I have asked for money from? I have gotten money from celebrities!" Then he so sweetly named all the celebrities who had given him money. Mean while I looked over at our sweet little investigator and he was saying a prayer! It was so cute! Finally the member we were with was like fine, I will take you to buy something to eat. The best part about the story is that we were teaching about Tithing and Fast offerings and how you can be at peace knowing that the money you donate goes to people who really need it and its not given as handouts which foster dependency on other. It was ridiculous but nice to use as an example in our lesson. I wanted to point something out too that's pretty sweet. Our investigator is a student at Columbia university. And since he lives in the dorms there we teach him on campus. So... I TEACH AT COLUMBIA! Woot and Ivy League school .. at my age. Who woulda thought? haha. The campus is so beautiful. We also have Julliard in our area now. Those students are so great!
Something cool that happened this week is that Thursday night the zone leaders called us and told us that we were going on a split with sis smith (the mission president's wife) the next day! I was super nervous but also excited because I always here about the miracles that the elders see when they go on splits and especially when with the president. It was her first time doing it and the reason she was doing it is because President Bednar told her that she needed to go out with the sisters and see what we go through, a King Benjamin approach. So she came to our appointment and we taught the Word Of Wisdom. It was a powerful lesson and I talked about Grandpa Tom and how amazing he was and I was getting super emotional and I got the feeling that I needed to extend him a baptismal date. And to this point he hadn't and skirted around the idea every time. But I followed my prompting and HE ACCEPTED!!!! Yay! He is now progressing toward his baptism and is excited about it! It was such a cool experience. It will be so good for both this young man and his recent convert father. So we got to see a miracle with sis smith. Shes so sweet too it was nice to get to know her better. Shes much different than sis searle. I would just describe her as fun and young and spunky.
So yesterday at service they were totally filming law in order at the church above the food pantry we work at. How cool is that? Too bad I have never seen the show before or maybe I would have recognized the celebrities. hahaha
So I got your package. Thanks a million. You are so sweet. I love the rice. I will live off of it. But now that we are in two wards we are getting a lot more meals. We got to go to this place this week called mamma mexico's. They make you fresh guacamole right at your table! So cool. We don't usually get to go out to eat but it was a nice treat!
We are excited for a baptism on Friday! She is so excited too. The whole Young Women's is also excited! That will make 6 yw now I think. Life is so different on this side of the country.
LOVE YOU ALL TO THE MOON AND BACK!
-taters
Sunday, September 6, 2009
So Blessed
Wow... I'm super overwhelmed with emotion right now. Good e-mail... *sigh* Ok So this week has been so amazing! I am so overwhelmed with gratitude right now. Luckily I am at a church this time not at the library. I am so grateful that my Heavenly Father loves me enough to answer my prayers. Man I wish I could express what I am feeling. I just know that every prayer is heard. Im so grateful that He loves me enough to let me have joy in my life. We have been so amazingly blessed this week. The guy that I told you about last week who ordered a book of Mormon has already decided to be baptized! So this is how it went down:
So we had an appointment with him and a member who is amazing. We taught him about the gospel of Jesus Christ (faith,baptism,holy ghost,etc). And while we were teaching I kept getting this prompting to commit him to be baptized. I was a little nervous because it was less than a week since we had even met him. But at the end of the lesson I asked him how he felt his relationship with our Savior had changed since we first met him (he didn't believe in Him then. He then pretty much bore his testimony about how he knew that Christ had Atoned for his sins and that He was his personal Savior. Then I asked him some more questions and then read a verse in 2 nephi 31 where it refers to baptism as a gate and I told him how he was waiting now at the gate and that our Heavenly Father is waiting on the other side of it with so many blessings and ... it's time to open the gate. So we extended the date of Sept 19th but he said he felt like he should read the whole Book of mormon first. Then our amazing member pipes in and talks about how you will never learn everything and that the blessing of the gospel is that it is an on going lesson. He also talked about how he would understand more as he had the companionship of the Holy Ghost which comes after baptism. BAMMM. So then I asked Will to pray and ask God if Sept 19th was the right date and he committed then our amazing member piped in again and said "well would you be comfortable if we did it now? Together?". My jaw dropped and that was def only something he could do as his friend (they go to school together). So right then and there we all got on our knees and Will said the most sincere and powerful prayer, pleading with His Heavenly Father for direction. Then after the prayer no one moved and we all just sat there feeling the spirit. At that moment I knew we had called down the powers of Heaven and I knew there was no way that the spirit would tell him it was wrong. Then Will sighed and looked up with a huge smile on his face and said "it feels good". It was seriously the most amazing thing ever. We have been meeting with him daily to prepare him to be baptized and he is so amazing. He is reading so quickly and has the greatest faith. I am so humbled by this opportunity to teach him. I feel so blessed that my Heavenly Father has trusted me to teach someone so amazing. I cant even explain the gratitude I feel in my heart right now. This is the greatest work ever!
Our other investigators are progressing well and our YW sweet spirit is so excited for her baptism. She loves young womens. So on to less exciting things... well sorta. One funny story. At the beginning of our lessons we sing a song and at one of our lessons I wanted to sing I need the ever hour... and I dont know what happened but I started the song soooooo low! It was terrible and our ward mission leader was there and he was belting out a very low bass line of the song. I felt terrible but I could not stop laughing... Just imagine trying to invite the spirit with that. It dosent work if you're wondering. haha.
So SUPER SAD NEWS..... ACTUALLY DEVASTATING!! The post office had a fit and decided they wouldn't forward our mail from the mission home anymore. So now I have to wait for the APs or zone leaders to bring it to us every once in a while! TRAGEDY!!!!! It breaks my little missionary mail loving heart. So those of you who write my I will give you my current address if you want to write me soon but if you're gonna take a while you might as well send it to the mission home just in case I move. But mom you can give my address to those you feel comfortable giving it to and I will do the rest. So its been a sad week and a half ... with no mail really. O well I guess it makes me more focused? ! ?
Well I sure love you all. I am so grateful for your support and prayers. Tell Sis Sanders thank you but I will send her a thank you when I get her address. That money is Heaven sent. This place is so crazy expensive but the members have stepped up on feeding us so that's nice (mostly because we are in two wards but we will give them some credit).
LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK!
-TATERS
So we had an appointment with him and a member who is amazing. We taught him about the gospel of Jesus Christ (faith,baptism,holy ghost,etc). And while we were teaching I kept getting this prompting to commit him to be baptized. I was a little nervous because it was less than a week since we had even met him. But at the end of the lesson I asked him how he felt his relationship with our Savior had changed since we first met him (he didn't believe in Him then. He then pretty much bore his testimony about how he knew that Christ had Atoned for his sins and that He was his personal Savior. Then I asked him some more questions and then read a verse in 2 nephi 31 where it refers to baptism as a gate and I told him how he was waiting now at the gate and that our Heavenly Father is waiting on the other side of it with so many blessings and ... it's time to open the gate. So we extended the date of Sept 19th but he said he felt like he should read the whole Book of mormon first. Then our amazing member pipes in and talks about how you will never learn everything and that the blessing of the gospel is that it is an on going lesson. He also talked about how he would understand more as he had the companionship of the Holy Ghost which comes after baptism. BAMMM. So then I asked Will to pray and ask God if Sept 19th was the right date and he committed then our amazing member piped in again and said "well would you be comfortable if we did it now? Together?". My jaw dropped and that was def only something he could do as his friend (they go to school together). So right then and there we all got on our knees and Will said the most sincere and powerful prayer, pleading with His Heavenly Father for direction. Then after the prayer no one moved and we all just sat there feeling the spirit. At that moment I knew we had called down the powers of Heaven and I knew there was no way that the spirit would tell him it was wrong. Then Will sighed and looked up with a huge smile on his face and said "it feels good". It was seriously the most amazing thing ever. We have been meeting with him daily to prepare him to be baptized and he is so amazing. He is reading so quickly and has the greatest faith. I am so humbled by this opportunity to teach him. I feel so blessed that my Heavenly Father has trusted me to teach someone so amazing. I cant even explain the gratitude I feel in my heart right now. This is the greatest work ever!
Our other investigators are progressing well and our YW sweet spirit is so excited for her baptism. She loves young womens. So on to less exciting things... well sorta. One funny story. At the beginning of our lessons we sing a song and at one of our lessons I wanted to sing I need the ever hour... and I dont know what happened but I started the song soooooo low! It was terrible and our ward mission leader was there and he was belting out a very low bass line of the song. I felt terrible but I could not stop laughing... Just imagine trying to invite the spirit with that. It dosent work if you're wondering. haha.
So SUPER SAD NEWS..... ACTUALLY DEVASTATING!! The post office had a fit and decided they wouldn't forward our mail from the mission home anymore. So now I have to wait for the APs or zone leaders to bring it to us every once in a while! TRAGEDY!!!!! It breaks my little missionary mail loving heart. So those of you who write my I will give you my current address if you want to write me soon but if you're gonna take a while you might as well send it to the mission home just in case I move. But mom you can give my address to those you feel comfortable giving it to and I will do the rest. So its been a sad week and a half ... with no mail really. O well I guess it makes me more focused? ! ?
Well I sure love you all. I am so grateful for your support and prayers. Tell Sis Sanders thank you but I will send her a thank you when I get her address. That money is Heaven sent. This place is so crazy expensive but the members have stepped up on feeding us so that's nice (mostly because we are in two wards but we will give them some credit).
LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK!
-TATERS
Monday, August 31, 2009
The Loaves and the Fishes keep on comin
Sometimes I wonder if there will ever be a day when I don't cry in the middle of the library reading my email. Hahaha. It's not a bad cry, I just think that all the missing of people I have ignored during the week catches up with me on pdays when I read about home. I figure its the only time I can do it and still consider myself focused. haha.
I totally agree with you mom about worrying is a habit and a choice. Every reaction we have is. It is all in our head most of the time and if we rely on the Lord and ask for His help we can change our mind just like that!
I am super surprised that I didn't see Aunt Kenna but I guess the Lord knows best. It actually was best probably because sunday was so crazy amazing. I donno if I could have handled one more thing. So the two wards we now cover overlap by one hour. So we had 3 people at our first meeting then we had to teach gospel principles, but then we had to meet our other investigator right before church so he would feel comfortable... anyways It was nuts. Sis G and I ended up having to split up for a while so we could be everywhere at once. It worked out fine and I am just sooo grateful for the love that the Lord is pouring on us. We are seeing so many miracles already. SOOO... We only got one new investigator last week because we were working so hard to keep track of the 5 we got the week before and Heavenly Father knew that and soo he sent us a miracle investigator. He has a girlfriend who is a member of our church and so after she prompted him he requested a Book of Mormon online. Then we got the referral and met with him at the church where he proceeded to tell us that he knew nothing about God or Jesus Christ or anything about any church really because his family never taught it at home and he never had made the effort to look until now. It made me a little bit nervous to start clean slate but I thought to myself about who is at the head of this work and what I would be testifying of and my nerves were immediately calmed. Then he came to church on sunday and LOVED it! He has read through 1 Nephi 12 and is starting to read the bible also. He told us that he cant explain the way that he is feeling he said "I'm so happy. It just feels so good and soo right!" I could barely contain my excitement. He is truly manna from Heaven! HAHA. I feel overly blessed to be teaching him. The ward is so amazing too they support us so much and love to fellowship the new people. So lets just say that things have been fantastic!!!!
Another of our investigators is moving along well. She is coming with us on Saturday to clean the church with the Young Women in the ward. I asked her if she liked to clean and she said "Not at my house but I would at the church!" She is so great. She told us how last year in school she had to write a paper about someone who was your hero or and who had a big influence in your life that had passed on and she did hers on Joseph Smith. Mind you she had only been to church a few times as she went with her grandparent. She is so great and the young women are so excited to add another girl to there very small group of 5.
I have been working a lot on being more charitable. Not only in deed but also in thought. I have a motto of "refusing to find fault". I am working to look at the good in people rather than their faults which as humans we automatically notice first. It has been a challenge because our minds are such creatures of habit but I know with the help of my Savior my righteous desires will come forth.
So a couple of nights ago the sisters we live with were like ... WE HAVE SOMETHING TO TELL YOU SIS WADSWORTH!! Then the proceeded to tell me that they got into an elevator with this guy in there and he smiled as they came in and said "do you know sis wadsworth?" and they were like yea we live with her. Then he responded "tell her David said hi" and my roomie was like well whats your last name so I can tell her and just like david would he said "Just say David, she will know who I am". SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO David Moncion was totally in a close by building. CRAZY!! HAHAHA. This city .... man its full of ...stuff. haha.
Well we are goin to play soccer with 3 zones of missionaries(like 30 missionaries). It should be FUN! I love you all and cant wait to hear about what happens next week.
love you to the moon and back
-kaitlyn
I totally agree with you mom about worrying is a habit and a choice. Every reaction we have is. It is all in our head most of the time and if we rely on the Lord and ask for His help we can change our mind just like that!
I am super surprised that I didn't see Aunt Kenna but I guess the Lord knows best. It actually was best probably because sunday was so crazy amazing. I donno if I could have handled one more thing. So the two wards we now cover overlap by one hour. So we had 3 people at our first meeting then we had to teach gospel principles, but then we had to meet our other investigator right before church so he would feel comfortable... anyways It was nuts. Sis G and I ended up having to split up for a while so we could be everywhere at once. It worked out fine and I am just sooo grateful for the love that the Lord is pouring on us. We are seeing so many miracles already. SOOO... We only got one new investigator last week because we were working so hard to keep track of the 5 we got the week before and Heavenly Father knew that and soo he sent us a miracle investigator. He has a girlfriend who is a member of our church and so after she prompted him he requested a Book of Mormon online. Then we got the referral and met with him at the church where he proceeded to tell us that he knew nothing about God or Jesus Christ or anything about any church really because his family never taught it at home and he never had made the effort to look until now. It made me a little bit nervous to start clean slate but I thought to myself about who is at the head of this work and what I would be testifying of and my nerves were immediately calmed. Then he came to church on sunday and LOVED it! He has read through 1 Nephi 12 and is starting to read the bible also. He told us that he cant explain the way that he is feeling he said "I'm so happy. It just feels so good and soo right!" I could barely contain my excitement. He is truly manna from Heaven! HAHA. I feel overly blessed to be teaching him. The ward is so amazing too they support us so much and love to fellowship the new people. So lets just say that things have been fantastic!!!!
Another of our investigators is moving along well. She is coming with us on Saturday to clean the church with the Young Women in the ward. I asked her if she liked to clean and she said "Not at my house but I would at the church!" She is so great. She told us how last year in school she had to write a paper about someone who was your hero or and who had a big influence in your life that had passed on and she did hers on Joseph Smith. Mind you she had only been to church a few times as she went with her grandparent. She is so great and the young women are so excited to add another girl to there very small group of 5.
I have been working a lot on being more charitable. Not only in deed but also in thought. I have a motto of "refusing to find fault". I am working to look at the good in people rather than their faults which as humans we automatically notice first. It has been a challenge because our minds are such creatures of habit but I know with the help of my Savior my righteous desires will come forth.
So a couple of nights ago the sisters we live with were like ... WE HAVE SOMETHING TO TELL YOU SIS WADSWORTH!! Then the proceeded to tell me that they got into an elevator with this guy in there and he smiled as they came in and said "do you know sis wadsworth?" and they were like yea we live with her. Then he responded "tell her David said hi" and my roomie was like well whats your last name so I can tell her and just like david would he said "Just say David, she will know who I am". SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO David Moncion was totally in a close by building. CRAZY!! HAHAHA. This city .... man its full of ...stuff. haha.
Well we are goin to play soccer with 3 zones of missionaries(like 30 missionaries). It should be FUN! I love you all and cant wait to hear about what happens next week.
love you to the moon and back
-kaitlyn
Sunday, August 23, 2009
More keeps coming
Well I am not going to lie this week has been amazing! It's the end of the cycle and so it always makes me nervous. So here is the down low. Miracle... Sis Ganaha and I are STILL TOGETHER!!! YAYYYYY!! BUT... we were asked to take over another ward... the SINGLE'S WARD!! So now we cover two wards and areas. Luckily the single's ward contains our family ward but wow! I feel like we were just getting the handle on our area and getting things really pumped up but I guess I need to learn that there is ALWAYS more! I am really humbled with the trust the Lord has put in us to do this. I don't know how long it will last but it will be intense. We will have to go to a lot of church on Sunday. Skip a lot of meals and travel a lot more. BUT I AM SOOO EXCITED for this challenge. It is so cool to contact everyone and to be able to teach anyone we talk to (that lives in our area) no matter the age! I have missed contacting singles and working with them. They are so much more receptive because truthfully most of them are still trying to figure out life and what they believe or what they want in life. SO woot sauce about that. The single's ward we are in covers Julliard. So we will be teaching some very talented people. I don't even know what to think about the situation but I am both scared and excited. But I know that Heavenly Father will help us out and that we will see many miracles from the small efforts we can do on with our free will.
So we had a ward picnic last Saturday and we had some investigators there. It was so fantastic to see the ward members fellowshipping. Some of our ward members are seriously super stars. I am so grateful for them. One of investigators brought his 4 year old son Ricky (Who we just found out that his name was ricky not wicky because of his dad's accent we thought it was wickie this whole time and so we called him that... terrible). Anyways so Ricky is really shy but we wanted him to have fun and so I used my little kid magic and was playing with him and I ended up running around the park with him for like an hour straight playing tag and throwing a ball. Needless to say I was soooo hot and sweaty. Sweaty is natural here. It's so humid everyone is constantly wet just from walking around... so I was really sweaty at this point. But he had fun. Then after the ward activity we had an appointment with an investigator and because there was no other lady with us we had to teach in a public place so we decided to go back to the park. It was getting late and it got dark as we were teaching and we were by a light and there were bugs all over the place and I kept feeling myself getting bit. O man it was gross... So then the next morning I counted....14 BUG BITES!!!!! All over my legs and feet and a couple on my arms. I didn't have any sort of bug bite cream and of course it was Sunday! It was miserable. Try having 14 bug bits and wearing nylons and then it being really humid and sweating all day. HAHA. It the worst. I have also realized I am extra allergic to mosquito bites. They get really red and really swollen. I took pictures so you will see. Everyone says I look like I have chicken pox on my legs. SO... yea. I finally got to buy calamine (?) lotion and some bug bite stuff on Monday but man I could not sleep that night. So since then I have been sleeping with long socks on to keep me from scracting accidentally in the night. When I am awake I can do a good job not scratching. Hopefully that didn't gross anyone out too much.
We have member I love who fell and cut her toe really bad a couple of weeks ago and so she has stitches and has to wear a big shoe thing. She is going to a school to become a nursing assistant since she lost her job as a seamstress. But for some reason the school told her that she could not complete the class because she couldn't wear the correct uniform shoes. So she had to go to the doctor to get a piece of paper saying it was a legit injury. But when she brougth it back to the teacher she said it wasn't legit because there was no stamp on it. So she went back to the hospital to get it but no one had any idea what she was talking about. (SORRY this is a long preface). So when she told us her story we asked her if we could help and she said well you can come with me to the doctor again so that we can find the stamp. So we prayed really hard that we would be able to some how find this stamp that no one could find before. Then we went with her and I kept thinking that the Lord has given us the power to help the people in this area and she needs this and our faith is strong ... we can do it. So we walked up to the nurses desk and explained the situation and she was like "no we don't have a stamp. I have no idea what you are talking bout". Then we felt prompted to have her ask the actual doctor and right as she asked the doctor said "of course I never leave my house without my stamp" and then stamped it. I know that was prob not as cool of a story as I was in person but I felt so at peace that my Heavenly Father knew our situation and heard our prayers and gave us something as small as a little stamp. I know that prayers are answered. No matter how small they are. He loves us and He wants us to succeed. Our joy is His joy. Our prayers may not be answered how we expect them to but they will be answered in the way they are supposed to be. The way that will make us happiest. I am so grateful for that knowledge.
Well I sure love you guys. I hope that everything continues to go well. Good luck all of you who are starting school again. I'm not jealous of that quite yet. HAHAH.
love you to the moon and back
-Sis Wadsworth
So we had a ward picnic last Saturday and we had some investigators there. It was so fantastic to see the ward members fellowshipping. Some of our ward members are seriously super stars. I am so grateful for them. One of investigators brought his 4 year old son Ricky (Who we just found out that his name was ricky not wicky because of his dad's accent we thought it was wickie this whole time and so we called him that... terrible). Anyways so Ricky is really shy but we wanted him to have fun and so I used my little kid magic and was playing with him and I ended up running around the park with him for like an hour straight playing tag and throwing a ball. Needless to say I was soooo hot and sweaty. Sweaty is natural here. It's so humid everyone is constantly wet just from walking around... so I was really sweaty at this point. But he had fun. Then after the ward activity we had an appointment with an investigator and because there was no other lady with us we had to teach in a public place so we decided to go back to the park. It was getting late and it got dark as we were teaching and we were by a light and there were bugs all over the place and I kept feeling myself getting bit. O man it was gross... So then the next morning I counted....14 BUG BITES!!!!! All over my legs and feet and a couple on my arms. I didn't have any sort of bug bite cream and of course it was Sunday! It was miserable. Try having 14 bug bits and wearing nylons and then it being really humid and sweating all day. HAHA. It the worst. I have also realized I am extra allergic to mosquito bites. They get really red and really swollen. I took pictures so you will see. Everyone says I look like I have chicken pox on my legs. SO... yea. I finally got to buy calamine (?) lotion and some bug bite stuff on Monday but man I could not sleep that night. So since then I have been sleeping with long socks on to keep me from scracting accidentally in the night. When I am awake I can do a good job not scratching. Hopefully that didn't gross anyone out too much.
We have member I love who fell and cut her toe really bad a couple of weeks ago and so she has stitches and has to wear a big shoe thing. She is going to a school to become a nursing assistant since she lost her job as a seamstress. But for some reason the school told her that she could not complete the class because she couldn't wear the correct uniform shoes. So she had to go to the doctor to get a piece of paper saying it was a legit injury. But when she brougth it back to the teacher she said it wasn't legit because there was no stamp on it. So she went back to the hospital to get it but no one had any idea what she was talking about. (SORRY this is a long preface). So when she told us her story we asked her if we could help and she said well you can come with me to the doctor again so that we can find the stamp. So we prayed really hard that we would be able to some how find this stamp that no one could find before. Then we went with her and I kept thinking that the Lord has given us the power to help the people in this area and she needs this and our faith is strong ... we can do it. So we walked up to the nurses desk and explained the situation and she was like "no we don't have a stamp. I have no idea what you are talking bout". Then we felt prompted to have her ask the actual doctor and right as she asked the doctor said "of course I never leave my house without my stamp" and then stamped it. I know that was prob not as cool of a story as I was in person but I felt so at peace that my Heavenly Father knew our situation and heard our prayers and gave us something as small as a little stamp. I know that prayers are answered. No matter how small they are. He loves us and He wants us to succeed. Our joy is His joy. Our prayers may not be answered how we expect them to but they will be answered in the way they are supposed to be. The way that will make us happiest. I am so grateful for that knowledge.
Well I sure love you guys. I hope that everything continues to go well. Good luck all of you who are starting school again. I'm not jealous of that quite yet. HAHAH.
love you to the moon and back
-Sis Wadsworth
Sunday, August 16, 2009
going and going and going
Hello Friends and Family,
So this week was a roller coaster (as a mission always is). Our baptismal date's mother decided they were going to go out of town this weekend at the last minute, preventing her from coming to church and thus preventing her from being our baptismal date. Just a little humbling reality check to keep us on our toes. But its ok she will make it when she is ready. We got some amazing new investigators this week but sadly we are finding the people who are not very committed. They get us all excited and then disappear. So we are trying to be more careful where we look for people to teach. We need Kingdom builders here for sure! haha.
We do have this super cool investigator. Anyways before our lesson this week we went and played H.O.R.S.E at a local park because he loves basketball. And Sister G was so amazing. She kept doing these crazy shots. One time she shot it with her eyes closed but the best was when she hit the ball into the basket with HER HEAD!!! Anyways we told him it was the holy ghost.. haha jk. It was cool though and we are just working on getting him to stop partying and come to church instead!
So two days ago sis g and I were walking to our dinner appointment and this guy was walking towards us and I was like "o snap... that's Tim Gun" and sure enough it was. HAHA. I was so scared though. If he wasn't who he was I totally would have contacted him. hahah. I tried to get a picture as he walked away but its not a good one. I thought you would be excited mom. It was hard to explain to sis g who he was because they don't watch project runway in japan. but then like 5 seconds later we walked passed a billboard and he was on it with heidi Klum. Anyways it was funny and pretty cool. I always see people I recognize but this guy I actually knew his name. lol.
SOO... the ward I am in now is known for being the tourist ward because its at a good time and its at the temple so its where all the tourists know to go. So I was walking out to find one of our investigators before church on sunday and I hear "gasp... KAITLYN!!" I was like ... woah .. that's my real name and then I turned around and saw my friend Alicia from the walk in center that I worked at at byu. Jason knows her too. It was so weird. Then she was like o I'm going to text megan and tell her. Then she said megan was freaking out... (kinda like i was). SOO.. the point of this story is that this is prob the most distracting mission in the world... Sis G was like... I am so glad I am not in my country. haha. Like all time there is music blaring that I love and billboards and advertisements EVERYWHERE for the movies coming out and books and concerts(Its like being on the strip 24/7). There are so many good places to eat and always little flea markets everywhere and fun stores to shop at. And I see people I know or people who know my family all the time. ALL OF WHICH I HAVE TO IGNORE!!! I am seriously learning major self control. I'm not saying in anyway that my mission is harder than anyone elses (they are all different and hard). But seriously. There are so many distractions. soo my little vent is over now. Its a good learning experience though.
So we had mission conference yesterday and the new mission president is going to be doing things a little different. I guess we aren't supposed to have mission conferences (?) and so we will be doing something different but he did say that we can take naps longer than 15 minutes now!! WHOOO!!! hahaha. They also told us that we will be getting a lot more sister missionaries in our mission. I don't know if its because he requested it or if there are just more sisters serving. I think its a little of both! WHOO SISTER POWER! But it will be exciting because he said they will be opening a lot more sister areas and so we can serve in more than 2 parts of our mission! YAYA!
So I am glad that everything is going well with the family. I show everyone I can pictures of Janson. He's already doing missionary work. haha. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have been given to be a missionary. It is not easy at all but it is something I wouldn't ever give away. I hope I can live up to the standards the Lord has set for us so that we can be worthy of His blessings and the joy that I know comes from living a righteous life. I am so grateful for my ancestors who paved the path for me to be a missionary right now at this time and age. I think often of what the pioneers went through and how I am far from experiencing what they did and so I am grateful to be here to support what they did back then.
Well... I am off to .... .drum roll please ... the Yankee's game!!!! Don't be too jealous I will be melting while wearing my nylons.
LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK
-TATERS
PS.. transfers are next Wednesday... we are not expecting any changes but just in case you know the drill ma.
So this week was a roller coaster (as a mission always is). Our baptismal date's mother decided they were going to go out of town this weekend at the last minute, preventing her from coming to church and thus preventing her from being our baptismal date. Just a little humbling reality check to keep us on our toes. But its ok she will make it when she is ready. We got some amazing new investigators this week but sadly we are finding the people who are not very committed. They get us all excited and then disappear. So we are trying to be more careful where we look for people to teach. We need Kingdom builders here for sure! haha.
We do have this super cool investigator. Anyways before our lesson this week we went and played H.O.R.S.E at a local park because he loves basketball. And Sister G was so amazing. She kept doing these crazy shots. One time she shot it with her eyes closed but the best was when she hit the ball into the basket with HER HEAD!!! Anyways we told him it was the holy ghost.. haha jk. It was cool though and we are just working on getting him to stop partying and come to church instead!
So two days ago sis g and I were walking to our dinner appointment and this guy was walking towards us and I was like "o snap... that's Tim Gun" and sure enough it was. HAHA. I was so scared though. If he wasn't who he was I totally would have contacted him. hahah. I tried to get a picture as he walked away but its not a good one. I thought you would be excited mom. It was hard to explain to sis g who he was because they don't watch project runway in japan. but then like 5 seconds later we walked passed a billboard and he was on it with heidi Klum. Anyways it was funny and pretty cool. I always see people I recognize but this guy I actually knew his name. lol.
SOO... the ward I am in now is known for being the tourist ward because its at a good time and its at the temple so its where all the tourists know to go. So I was walking out to find one of our investigators before church on sunday and I hear "gasp... KAITLYN!!" I was like ... woah .. that's my real name and then I turned around and saw my friend Alicia from the walk in center that I worked at at byu. Jason knows her too. It was so weird. Then she was like o I'm going to text megan and tell her. Then she said megan was freaking out... (kinda like i was). SOO.. the point of this story is that this is prob the most distracting mission in the world... Sis G was like... I am so glad I am not in my country. haha. Like all time there is music blaring that I love and billboards and advertisements EVERYWHERE for the movies coming out and books and concerts(Its like being on the strip 24/7). There are so many good places to eat and always little flea markets everywhere and fun stores to shop at. And I see people I know or people who know my family all the time. ALL OF WHICH I HAVE TO IGNORE!!! I am seriously learning major self control. I'm not saying in anyway that my mission is harder than anyone elses (they are all different and hard). But seriously. There are so many distractions. soo my little vent is over now. Its a good learning experience though.
So we had mission conference yesterday and the new mission president is going to be doing things a little different. I guess we aren't supposed to have mission conferences (?) and so we will be doing something different but he did say that we can take naps longer than 15 minutes now!! WHOOO!!! hahaha. They also told us that we will be getting a lot more sister missionaries in our mission. I don't know if its because he requested it or if there are just more sisters serving. I think its a little of both! WHOO SISTER POWER! But it will be exciting because he said they will be opening a lot more sister areas and so we can serve in more than 2 parts of our mission! YAYA!
So I am glad that everything is going well with the family. I show everyone I can pictures of Janson. He's already doing missionary work. haha. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have been given to be a missionary. It is not easy at all but it is something I wouldn't ever give away. I hope I can live up to the standards the Lord has set for us so that we can be worthy of His blessings and the joy that I know comes from living a righteous life. I am so grateful for my ancestors who paved the path for me to be a missionary right now at this time and age. I think often of what the pioneers went through and how I am far from experiencing what they did and so I am grateful to be here to support what they did back then.
Well... I am off to .... .drum roll please ... the Yankee's game!!!! Don't be too jealous I will be melting while wearing my nylons.
LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK
-TATERS
PS.. transfers are next Wednesday... we are not expecting any changes but just in case you know the drill ma.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Photos - Finally
We have had scanner issues and have not been able to add any of the photos Katy has sent to us. This week she sent us a CD with a bunch of photos cause her photo memory was full, so now I can add a few photos! They are of her and some of her converts and in Central park and outside her old apartment. Thanks, Pauline
I seriously can't believe the summer is almost over (hartke has closed). It seriously blows my mind how fast time is going. The days seem long but the weeks fly by. Its a terrible curse.
Anyways we have had such an amazing week. I am just constantly reminded of how aware our Heavenly Father is of each of us. Im sure you could tell from my emails these last couple of months that things in this area are tough. I felt like everyday we were just running in circles with no success. But I put my trust in the Lord because I know that no effort goes wasted when we are doing the Lord's work. So I would just tell myself... there is success around the corner.. I know it... I wont get frustrated. So needless to say this week has been amazing. We looked up a less active last week (I think I told you) who has two daughters 13 and 8. So we went to see them and then the 13 year old told us how much she loves the BOM and how she takes it to school to read during breaks. And pretty much shes amazing and she went to church with us and has accepted a baptismal date. She will get baptized at the end of the month!! MIRACLE!!! Then also this week we have gotten so many media referrals. People requesting free items or just a visit from us. So one was a lady name Yvette and she wanted a missionary visit because recently when she went to visit her uncle in Georgia she met the missionaries there who were teaching her uncle and he got baptized! So she was able to see his conversion and decided she wanted to also learn more. So we met with her last night for the first time. She is so cute and we had a relief society activity right after our lesson and she came with us and got along so well with the ladies there and loved it!! It was priceless. I couldn't stop smiling as I watched her talk with everyone and just bounce around meeting all the ladies. The ward was so great too to reach out to her and make her feel welcome! HALLELUJAH! So pretty much we are trying to stay humble and remember that we are not the ones producing these miracles. I am so grateful that my Heavenly Father has trusted me to work with these amazing children of God.
So on a sad note one of our APs who I actually was my first zone leader and I served around him my whole mission just went home and they told us two days ago that he has been diagnosed with Leukemia. It's been really sad but also such a faith builder. He is such an amazing missionary and so high spirited. Please keep elder evans in your prayers. They have said that he has a very high chance of recovering completely. We are so grateful for that. It has just been a very humbling experience. I know that our trials will never disappear completely but I am so grateful for the gospel which gives us the strength to not only overcome them but to grow and learn from them.
So funny story. We have been working with this less active Irene that I have mentioned before. She is so great and has been coming to church steadily. So this Sunday was testimony meeting and she got up to bear her testimony and it was so pure and sweet. Then during it she decided to do some shout outs... She said "I would like to thank Sis Ganaha and Sis Wadsworth for meeting with me to help me build my faith and not giving up on me. But I do wish I had one more thing. I have asked multiple times for home teachers and I have not seen them for over 3 years".... HAHA. So she pretty much called her home teachers to repentance. It was so funny though and everyone after her commented about it and it was really cute. The funny thing is her home teachers have been trying to see her they just get shut down by her daughter that lives there or cant get a hold of her. The 2nd counselor stood up and was like "man if everyone stood up and announced who hadn't been home taught yet this month I think we would get a lot more home teaching done so .. .starting next month we will do that... " haha. It was fantastic.
Also a funny side note. I have spent more time in Starbucks on my mission then I have in my whole life thus far. One because its free to sit in them and teach when people are not comfortable with us in their homes or to do studies. And second because they have public bathrooms. (Thank goodness for those bathrooms... they have saved me countless times). So if dad gets Starbucks cards this year for Christmas ... I call dibs on them for all the yummy desserts they have! I know weird huh?
So we are off now to go to Chinatown for a crazy day of fun. I don't really know what we expect to find but I'm excited to spend more than an hour lunch break there after a meeting running around thinking ... only ten more minutes ... hurry!
LOVE YOU ALL TO THE MOON AND BACK!!!
-TOOTS
I seriously can't believe the summer is almost over (hartke has closed). It seriously blows my mind how fast time is going. The days seem long but the weeks fly by. Its a terrible curse.
Anyways we have had such an amazing week. I am just constantly reminded of how aware our Heavenly Father is of each of us. Im sure you could tell from my emails these last couple of months that things in this area are tough. I felt like everyday we were just running in circles with no success. But I put my trust in the Lord because I know that no effort goes wasted when we are doing the Lord's work. So I would just tell myself... there is success around the corner.. I know it... I wont get frustrated. So needless to say this week has been amazing. We looked up a less active last week (I think I told you) who has two daughters 13 and 8. So we went to see them and then the 13 year old told us how much she loves the BOM and how she takes it to school to read during breaks. And pretty much shes amazing and she went to church with us and has accepted a baptismal date. She will get baptized at the end of the month!! MIRACLE!!! Then also this week we have gotten so many media referrals. People requesting free items or just a visit from us. So one was a lady name Yvette and she wanted a missionary visit because recently when she went to visit her uncle in Georgia she met the missionaries there who were teaching her uncle and he got baptized! So she was able to see his conversion and decided she wanted to also learn more. So we met with her last night for the first time. She is so cute and we had a relief society activity right after our lesson and she came with us and got along so well with the ladies there and loved it!! It was priceless. I couldn't stop smiling as I watched her talk with everyone and just bounce around meeting all the ladies. The ward was so great too to reach out to her and make her feel welcome! HALLELUJAH! So pretty much we are trying to stay humble and remember that we are not the ones producing these miracles. I am so grateful that my Heavenly Father has trusted me to work with these amazing children of God.
So on a sad note one of our APs who I actually was my first zone leader and I served around him my whole mission just went home and they told us two days ago that he has been diagnosed with Leukemia. It's been really sad but also such a faith builder. He is such an amazing missionary and so high spirited. Please keep elder evans in your prayers. They have said that he has a very high chance of recovering completely. We are so grateful for that. It has just been a very humbling experience. I know that our trials will never disappear completely but I am so grateful for the gospel which gives us the strength to not only overcome them but to grow and learn from them.
So funny story. We have been working with this less active Irene that I have mentioned before. She is so great and has been coming to church steadily. So this Sunday was testimony meeting and she got up to bear her testimony and it was so pure and sweet. Then during it she decided to do some shout outs... She said "I would like to thank Sis Ganaha and Sis Wadsworth for meeting with me to help me build my faith and not giving up on me. But I do wish I had one more thing. I have asked multiple times for home teachers and I have not seen them for over 3 years".... HAHA. So she pretty much called her home teachers to repentance. It was so funny though and everyone after her commented about it and it was really cute. The funny thing is her home teachers have been trying to see her they just get shut down by her daughter that lives there or cant get a hold of her. The 2nd counselor stood up and was like "man if everyone stood up and announced who hadn't been home taught yet this month I think we would get a lot more home teaching done so .. .starting next month we will do that... " haha. It was fantastic.
Also a funny side note. I have spent more time in Starbucks on my mission then I have in my whole life thus far. One because its free to sit in them and teach when people are not comfortable with us in their homes or to do studies. And second because they have public bathrooms. (Thank goodness for those bathrooms... they have saved me countless times). So if dad gets Starbucks cards this year for Christmas ... I call dibs on them for all the yummy desserts they have! I know weird huh?
So we are off now to go to Chinatown for a crazy day of fun. I don't really know what we expect to find but I'm excited to spend more than an hour lunch break there after a meeting running around thinking ... only ten more minutes ... hurry!
LOVE YOU ALL TO THE MOON AND BACK!!!
-TOOTS
Sunday, August 2, 2009
The rain keeps coming
We just braved the pouring rain to get to the library. WoW i don't think it will ever end.
So this was a fun week. First off President Smith called and asked sis ganaha and I to teach a workshop for a youth conference. The youth from the cherrhill new jersey stake came to new york. It was intense and a lot of pressure. We had to teach 3 - 50 minute classes. It was really fun though. It was funny to see all the little cliques and stuff. Man I dont miss those years of life. hahah. But it made me really want to be an efy counselor. It was fun and was nice to have a change from the regular routine. I hope they enjoyed it and learned something. It also felt good to know that President already trusted us enough to do that!
So it was really funny a couple of days ago on the bus sis ganaha was on one end talking to someone and I was on the other end doing the same and then when we got out she was still talking to her contact and so I just walked behind them and man... something smelt sooo bad. I just figured it was something outside because it really smelt like pee. Then I realized when I stepped away from Sis G and her contact the smell would disappear. Then I noticed the lady she was talking to had peed herself. EEEKS! Right as I realized that I heard sis G say "Man it really smells bad out here huh?" hahaha... anyways.. guess you had to be there but it was pretty funny.
So a cool thing happened on pioneer day. We were walking across the street to find a bathroom and then eat dinner and this guy was like "sisters!!! What are you doin right now? " we told him we were about to eat and he was like well let me treat you. So this guy totally bought us chipotle (which is way too expensive for us). He is a BYU professor named Bro Neilson and he teaches religion: church history classes. He was here to talk to people of other faiths. He was so great!! So I know that you can find teacher's email address on the BYU website directory thing. So I was wondering if someone could find him and send him a thank you email for me! :D It really was so nice. I cant get over it. He also has a show on the new mormonradio thing. He was awesome!!!
So here is a tip I would like to share with the world about working with missionaries. If you ever feed them LET THEM SERVE THEMSELVES!!! o MAN... I cant tell you how many times I have gotten sick from trying to eat all that people give us. I blame the members for any weight I gain. haha. Sometimes I'm really hungry... sometimes I'm not.. so please let me choose how much I eat. lol!
I got the greatest pictures of Janson from Britt. O i just love them. Did britt cut her hair? I have been showing them to everyone.
So today we went to the temple. I love it there. sooo peaceful. My thoughts are always turned to my family past, present and future. What a beautiful thing we have to know that we can all be together forever. After we went to the temple sis g and our apartment mates went to two of the most famous NY bakeries. OOOOO MY O MY. Crumbs and magnolia's . I cant wait to take you guys... Heaven is what it should really be called :D.
The work is going really well. We had an investigator at church this week and it was her second time. She is so cute and says that she feels peace when she reads the scriptures. I totally agree with her. They always ease my worries. Scripture POWER!! woot!
Well I love you all so much! Don't forget that!
LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK!
-SIS WADSWORTH
So this was a fun week. First off President Smith called and asked sis ganaha and I to teach a workshop for a youth conference. The youth from the cherrhill new jersey stake came to new york. It was intense and a lot of pressure. We had to teach 3 - 50 minute classes. It was really fun though. It was funny to see all the little cliques and stuff. Man I dont miss those years of life. hahah. But it made me really want to be an efy counselor. It was fun and was nice to have a change from the regular routine. I hope they enjoyed it and learned something. It also felt good to know that President already trusted us enough to do that!
So it was really funny a couple of days ago on the bus sis ganaha was on one end talking to someone and I was on the other end doing the same and then when we got out she was still talking to her contact and so I just walked behind them and man... something smelt sooo bad. I just figured it was something outside because it really smelt like pee. Then I realized when I stepped away from Sis G and her contact the smell would disappear. Then I noticed the lady she was talking to had peed herself. EEEKS! Right as I realized that I heard sis G say "Man it really smells bad out here huh?" hahaha... anyways.. guess you had to be there but it was pretty funny.
So a cool thing happened on pioneer day. We were walking across the street to find a bathroom and then eat dinner and this guy was like "sisters!!! What are you doin right now? " we told him we were about to eat and he was like well let me treat you. So this guy totally bought us chipotle (which is way too expensive for us). He is a BYU professor named Bro Neilson and he teaches religion: church history classes. He was here to talk to people of other faiths. He was so great!! So I know that you can find teacher's email address on the BYU website directory thing. So I was wondering if someone could find him and send him a thank you email for me! :D It really was so nice. I cant get over it. He also has a show on the new mormonradio thing. He was awesome!!!
So here is a tip I would like to share with the world about working with missionaries. If you ever feed them LET THEM SERVE THEMSELVES!!! o MAN... I cant tell you how many times I have gotten sick from trying to eat all that people give us. I blame the members for any weight I gain. haha. Sometimes I'm really hungry... sometimes I'm not.. so please let me choose how much I eat. lol!
I got the greatest pictures of Janson from Britt. O i just love them. Did britt cut her hair? I have been showing them to everyone.
So today we went to the temple. I love it there. sooo peaceful. My thoughts are always turned to my family past, present and future. What a beautiful thing we have to know that we can all be together forever. After we went to the temple sis g and our apartment mates went to two of the most famous NY bakeries. OOOOO MY O MY. Crumbs and magnolia's . I cant wait to take you guys... Heaven is what it should really be called :D.
The work is going really well. We had an investigator at church this week and it was her second time. She is so cute and says that she feels peace when she reads the scriptures. I totally agree with her. They always ease my worries. Scripture POWER!! woot!
Well I love you all so much! Don't forget that!
LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK!
-SIS WADSWORTH
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