Dear family,

Hey, how are y’all doing? 🙂 This week has been good. We didn’t get hit by any tornados, but about 6 of them touched down in Arlington. President was inspired when he took the sisters out of there. 🙂 Apparently there were about a dozen in total, but none of them came in our area. As far as I know, everyone that is serving in the areas where they touched down are okay. It was weird hearing the tornado alarm though. You don’t hear those in Utah.

Okay so this week…

Monday: We got heart attacked by the elders that live in our apartment complex. It was stinkin’ cute. Our elders are so sweet. We spend a lot of time with them, because we give them rides, and they give us rides, if we are going to the same place at the same time. They are good boys.

Tuesday: I found out that my first convert, Antonio, passed away a little while ago. It was really sad and hard. I was looking forward to being able to go visit him when I come back to visit the mission after I come home, but now I don’t get to. 🙁 But it’s okay, I know that he is in a good place. 🙂 Also, it rained a lot! And I stepped in a huge puddle that was like 6 inches deep, and I almost drowned. Jk, jk, that was dramatic. But it was really deep. Also, we had a baptism!!! H. got baptized, and everything went well. I will attach a photo of all of us together. 🙂

Wednesday: We set a marriage date with two of our investigators (A. and L.) for the 5th of May!!! Woo!!! So they will be getting married, and then after they can get baptized. And L. has opened up to us a lot. Before he used to to not like the missionaries, but he loves us now. And he has read the Book of Mormon and knows that it is true! They are so cool.

Thursday: We had a crazy day. So H. was supposed to get the gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday, but we went to visit them on Thursday, and J. (her son), had gotten a call from his work that he needed to be in Boston on Monday, and they were driving there. So…they had to leave that night. So we had to do a bunch of calling and get permission, to try to get it so she could get the gift of the Holy Ghost not in sacrament meeting on Sunday. It was crazy stressful, but it happened. She got the gift of the Holy Ghost, and everything is all good. 🙂 We also can write to her now, because she is our recent convert, and is not living in our mission.

Saturday: We got to eat at Texas Roadhouse! It was Elder K.’s birthday, so we got money from our dinner and decided to eat there. He was so embarrased because we had them sing for him. 🙂 Ha ha! But at least we didn’t make him sit on the saddle. I think he would have been VERY angry with us.

Sunday: We went Easter caroling. It was Sister Valdez’s idea, because she never got to go real caroling at Christmas time, so she really wanted to go. It was fun.

MOM: That is such a cool lesson. It really is true. I was reading in the Book of Mormon the other day, and I read a verse in Mosiah, chapter 2, verses 23 and 24. It says basically that same thing.

“And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him. And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore of what have ye to boast?”

Basically, now matter what we do, we still owe him for everything. But we can give back to him by helping others, and being obedient to the commmandments. I am so grateful for the gospel. 🙂

P.S. To answer your P.S., we have 72 hour kits in our apartment, and they also have papers that we are supposed to keep with us that tell us what to do, in case of a tornado or other emergency. They are very organized in the way they handle things like that. 🙂 Don’t you worry none. 🙂

EMMY: I’m doing good. Man, that is crazy Amanda L. is going to be having a baby. 🙂 And you are turning 18! But that sounds like a lot of stuff you have to do. I will defintely keep you in my prayers. 🙂

P.S. Are you trying to trunk me out?! Ha ha. It won’t work. I’m not trunky like at all. 🙂

DAD: There were some tornados that were close ish, but none of them hit where I am at all. Man, Uncle Scott is crazy. 🙂 Ha. I would maybe consider running a marathon, if my hips weren’t bad. And if I trained for it for a really long time. 🙂 I’m glad grandmother and granddad are doing good.

Well, I better go now. I love you all!

Love, Kelsey

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Dearest family,

This week was pretty great. Well actually…it’s been really crazy. Tuesday, I was feeling kind of weird. Like halfway through the day I was feeling like I was going to pass out and slightly delirious. I didn’t know why, but I didn’t say anything to Sister V. This was our conversation a little bit later.

me: “Do you feel weird?”
Sister V: “Like what kind of weird?”

me: “Like your head is floating?”

Sis. V: “Yeah.”

me: “And you feel weak?”

Sis. V: “Yeah.”

me: “Man, I thought it was just me!”

So we took ourselves to the nearest Walm-mart and decided to take our blood pressure, just in case. Turns out our blood pressure was low for some reason. Then after that we ate which I thought would help. But it didn’t really. I still felt really tired and weak. So I went to bed that night and hoped that everything would be good when I woke up. I felt better (stronger), but also weird. Like anxious, and I couldn’t focus, and my heart kept beating really weird. I spent my entire 1 hour personal study reading 17 verses of the Book of Mormon, and then I didn’t even remember what I had read at all. I basically felt like I was going crazy. Like it was all in my head. But I remembered that the night before, one of my zone leaders, Elder C, asked if I wanted a priesthood blessing. I told him no at the time, because I thought I would just get better. So because it was transfers Wednesday morning, we went to the church, and I got a priesthood blessing. And then I felt a lot better. Then on Friday, my allergies were acting up really, really bad. I used an entire roll of toilet paper soaking up the extra snot pouring out of my face. (Sorry for the visual, but that is what was happening) 🙂 It was crazy. So I got another priesthood blessing on Saturday, right before the morning session of conference. But, don’t worry Mom, now I am all good. Not 100%, but about 97%. 🙂 Missionary work and our schedule as missionaries is taking a little bit of a toll on this little chica., though :I

Other than that, things are great. Conference was amazing, of course! One of my favorite talks was the Jeffrey R. Holland one. He is such a powerful speaker. “It’s getting late.” Ha ha. Whoa! That gave me chills. It truly is “getting late”. The second coming is closer than we think, and now is the time to prepare. I wrote so many pages of notes. I loved that most fo the talks were about marriage and children raising. Ha ha. Sister V was telling me she has never thought about marriage more than in the last couple days, because everyone in conference was talking about it. I think she’ll get married pretty quick when she gets home. I’ll give her 6 months. 😉 🙂 Ha ha. But wow, for reals!?!? My little bro was on tv?! That is so unreal. I didn’t get to watch any of the stuff in between, because  we were eating and going to appointments, but that is so sweet! I wish I could have seen it. I probably would have cried though. I miss my little hyperactive Flexy man! 🙁 I bet he is all grown up now, and mature and stuff.

AWW man! Tashers! I miss that little girl a lot. I was looking at an older picture you sent me of her, compared to the one that you just barely sent, and I still cannot believe it is the same little girl. She is just so big. How did that happen?!

Dad: I truly am jealous that you ate a peanut butter dream bar and swedish pancakes. Oh the simple pleasures of life that you don’t get to have as a missionary! I look forward to the day when you will make me swedish pancakes and I will eat 10 of them. 🙂 Just like the good ol’ days. 🙂 But anyway, conference was great. I always get way more out of it now, than I ever did before. Everything they talk about is so important, and before the mission, I just didn’t get it. But now I’m starting to understand it a little better. 🙂

Emily: OMG! You are not turning 18 in 18 days!!! That is not even real!! You are getting way too big too fast. Just stop it okay!? Jk jk. But really that scares me a lot. Everything is going to be so different when I get home. I’m scared. But I’m sure it will be great. That’s cool you are on spring break. They had spring break here like 2 weeks ago. I’m not sure why, but whatevs. Do you want to hear something sad? I have 0 interest in watching movies anymore. Like I heard that y’all were watching Remember the Titans, and I didn’t even have any desire to watch that movie, or any other one. It’s something weird that happens to missionaries. You become these super boring people that only care about the salvation of souls. But it is great. I love being a missionary! You should be one too someday. 🙂

Riley: Aww that is so cute that Natasha calls Janet “Janny” and “my angel”. She is seriously like the sweetest cutest thing ever!. Ha ha. I mean…that is, until I have kids! Hahaha! 🙂 🙂 Jk, jk. But for reals. Anyway, I gotta go. Keep doing good things. P.S. Did you like conference?

Janet: Ja ja. Que bueno! Gracias por el slang. Mi companera antes siempre decia “Que verguenza!” porque ella es rubio y siempre hacia cosas raras. Ja ja. Pero ya puede decir “Que oso!” en vez de “Que Verguenza!” Pues gracias por tu ayuda. Casi no tengo tiempo entonces tengo que ir. Hablamos luego! Cuidate mucho! 🙂 Y tambien gracias por decirme que esta pasando con mi hermano. Es verdad. El no habla mucho. Es un hombre de pocas palabras. 🙂

Anyways, I gotta go now. I love all of you! Be good. I’ll see you soon. 🙂

Love, Kelsey