Things are good here.

Mom: First off, thank you so much for the package! It was awesome! I especially love that cd that has spanish hymns on it. It was great. 🙂

I wish I had prepared more as well, for the mission. I do not feel like I was as ready as I could have been when I came out on the mission, and I wish I could have spent more time preparing myself mentally and spiritually for what was going to be coming on the mission. But I think that is something that every missionary feels, no matter how much they prepare before. It is always an adjustment, and you will always see how much you really do have to work and improve on. You see your imperfections with perfect clarity, and it really is hard sometimes. But it is also so amazing.

2. Sister V. is from Peru. She lived there for 3 years, and then they moved to the U.S. She is the only completely active member in her immediate family. She is amazing. 🙂

3. We are struggling keeping investigators lately. So we don’t really have an except A. and L. They are getting married on the 5th of May, and then baptized on the 12th. A. is so awesome! She has wanted to get baptized for so long, but because she wasn’t married she couldn’t. She is such a strong woman, and yet so sweet and loving and kind. And her kids are adorable.

4. See question 6

5. Sister V. saved a life this week. A little girl was walking down the stairs towards us and Sister V. caught her as she was falling.

6. It’s funny that you asked your special question about dealing with sadness and despair, because Sister V. and I have been struggling with that a little bit lately. We have been going through a kind of “mourning phase” since we lost one of our golden investigators, J. We don’t know what happened to him, but he has been avoiding us for the last 3 weeks. We really don’t know why. We have talked to him a couple times on the phone, and a couple times in the street, but he is so different now from the person we met several weeks ago. We have been so sad, and down on ourselves, and it’s like we don’t know where to go or what to do. Let’s just say it “really threw us for a loop”. But something that has helped me a lot is knowing that the Lord is in charge. He cares for all of his children, and even though they make choices he may not agree with, he still will prepare another opportunity for them to learn, and to grow. I have also taken comfort in the scriptures. This morning I read Alma 28, and it was perfect for me. It talks about a huge battle that takes place and lots of people die. The people that are still living, that lost loved ones, are mourning their losses. In verse 6 it talks about how they were sorrowful, and it was a solemn day, but it was also a time of fasting and prayer. They turned to the Lord in their time of need. Then in verse 8, it talks about the experiences of Ammon and his brethren (who were missionaries at this time, serving in that place) and how they had sufferings, sorrows, and afflictions, and yet they also had “incomprehensible joy”. Even though they had hard times, being a missionary brings them the most joy out of anything. That is something that I have definitely seen in my time as a missionary. Then there was a verse I really loved in Alma 29, verse 13. It says, “…And that same God hath called me by a holy calling, to preach the word unto this people, and hath given me much success, in the which my joy is full.” I then started to read through the list of people I have seen baptized. I have watched people come closer to Christ, and seen them make covenants with Him, and that is enough to bring me joy at this time. Life as a missionary is hard. People let you down, people break your heart, people reject you. But there are people out there who are earnestly searching for the gospel, and when you meet them, and help them make changes in their life for the better, it is indescribable the way you feel. (“My cup runneth over” as the grandma says in Hope Floats) So it is not completely okay that J. wants nothing to do with us, but I feel blessed to have had the experiences I do, and I wouldn’t trade them for anything.

Well, I think that is all. I was very longwinded today. Sorry. Well, not really sorry, because I know you love to hear stuff, but now I am out of time. I love you so much!

Dad: That is awesome you are still getting work done. I am so glad I have a dad that is such a great hard worker. I have seen a lot of men on my mission that work really hard to support their families, and I have seen a lot of men that don’t do near enough, and it makes me glad that I have the dad I have. 🙂 Ha ha. That sounds like fun riding the dirt bike up on some dirt. I want to do that! I have gotten Sister V. really into motorcycles lately. It’s funy, because before she didn’t notice them at all, but now she lookd for them, and when she gets home from the mission she wants to buy one. Ha ha. 🙂 Anyway, I have to go. Sorry. 🙁

Emily: Hey sorry this is going to be super short, but I’m glad you had a great b-day….Congratulations on finishing clinicals…..Send me a picture from your senior pictures…I miss being a kid…I think that is all…

I love you all SOOOO much! Have a great week.

Love, Kelsey

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Kelsey and Emily

Dearest family,

Hey howdy hey! How are y’all doing? Ha ha. I don’t really sound like a Southerner yet, but I’m working on it. Just kidding. But anyway, things are good here. We have had a good week this week. We finally got a hold of our two legit investigators that went missing. We still don’t really know what is going to happen with them, but we are still going to try. They were so cool, but now we don’t know what is going on with them.

Just a few things that happened this week:

Wednesday: We got to watch the Joseph Smith movie with some of our recent converts. It is SUCH a good movie. I really love it, and I haven’t seen it since the MTC, where we used to watch it almost every Sunday. I always cry to think about all the things he went through, but because of that, we have the church we have today. One part that got Sister V. really bad, which it never did before, was the part where the missionaries start going out to different parts of the world to preach. She started thinking about how she is doing that now, and it just hit her differently than before. It was pretty cool. Our recent converts loved it too.

Thursday: We had a 24 hour exchange. I went with Sister N., to their area, and her companion, Sister B., went with Sister V. to our area. It was pretty fun. We visited with some really cool people, and had some great times. I got to talk to Elder W., who is one of the elders I came into Texas with. He is so cool. He is the zone leader in their area. It was weird doing english work though. It is very different from spanish work. It is hard to explain, but it just feels different. I didn’t like it as much. But it was still fun. 🙂 Also, it was weird, because we went to eat dinner with this family, and when we pulled up the house, I was like, “I have seen this house before.” But I couldn’t think of where I had seen it. Then all of the sudden, I remembered. My first night that I stayed in Texas, I stayed with Sister W. and Sister M. And then I realized the person we were about to eat with was someone that we ate breakfast with my first day (their ward mission leader). So we went up to the door, and I said hey to the sister that we were eating with. I introduced myself, and she said, “you look familiar.” I told her it was because I had been there before. Then she said she remembered me. It was weird. Like deja vu. Except now I’m a kind of experienced missionary instead of a completely thrown out of my comfort zone greenie.

Mom: Awww! T. and G.! I miss them! I saw a little boy the other day that looked so much like G., and I felt a little bit sad, because I remember when little tiny G. used to cuddle with me in the morning after he woke up, and when I get home, “little” G. will probably be as tall as I am. 🙁 It stinks that things have to change. Sometimes I wish time could just hold still for just a minute. But I know that’s how everyone feels sometimes. Wow…Jessica is going on a mission?! That is so cool! Tell her congratulations, and that she will love it. Spanish is the BEST!! Not that I’m biased or anything. 🙂 Ha ha, but really that is sweet.

Wow, Grandmother and Grandad are married 56 years? That is quite a long time. Not as long as eternity, but that’s still a while. 🙂 That is super cool though.

I love you so much! I had a dream the other night that I was coming home, and I saw all of you at the airport. It made me sad when I woke up, but I know that day will be coming quick, and I probably won’t want it to come when it does. I still have mixed feelings about that. I want to come home, but I don’t at the same time. It’s so weird.

Dad: I’m glad things are still just going along. One of my new favorite quotes goes like this:

“Some blessings come soon, some blessings come late, and some blessings don’t come until heaven, but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come.” (-Jeffrey R Holland) As long as you are doing what you need to be doing, and living the gospel of Jesus Christ, you will be blessed. Maybe not at this moment, but at some point it will happen. Don’t give up! 🙂 It wil happen. Anway, I think that’s it. Love you! P.S. The sprint is my favorite part. I love sprinting! :):):)

Emmy: Hey seester! How’s it going? Oh wait…HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY TO EMMYSAURUS REX! HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!! Woohoooo! You’re almost an adult (officially!) Ha ha. Well, I can’t really do much else for you, so that’s going to have to be your happy birthday from me. 🙂 I hope you enjoyed it.

That is pretty cool that you are doing great with your school, and clinicals and all that. Man, I can’t believe you’ve been getting up that early. You’re a trooper! I still struggle with getting up at 6:30 some days. Being a missionary is exhausting. But awesome, and totally worth it. 🙂 I just think I was never meant to be a morning person.

Oh wow, and you are getting senior pictures?! You should send me one when you get them printed. 🙂 That would be really cool. I don’t even know what all of you look like. It has been like FOREVER! For reals.

Anyway, I gotta go now! I love you all SOOOO much.

Love, Kelsey

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX