Where friendships are formed,
and families are grown,
where joy is shared a
and true love is known.
Where memories are made
and seeds of life are sown.
This is the place
that people call home.
-auther unknown
Home!
1
Monthly Archives: January 2012
Totally “Fort Worth” It!
Hermana Kelsey 12:2 -email-Dear family,
Como estan? Espero que todo esta bien con ustedes. I’m doing pretty good. This week we found some really cool new investigators, so I am excited for some of the upcoming lessons we will have with them. 🙂
Some things that happened this week were:
Monday: Sister W. got really sick and was throwing up and stuff, so we didn’t go out and work. I did some work in the apartment while she slept. The elders were so sweet and got her soup and Sprite and stuff. They are so cool. They really take good care of us. 🙂
Tuesday: I was feeling kind of sick, but I only threw up a little. We were also in charge of the Noche de Hogar (Family Home Evening), that we do every week here, so we did that later in the evening. We talked about adversity. We shared the story about Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail, and how if we turn to the Lord, everything works out okay, and we can make it through all our trials. We also shared a quote but I forgot the paper to I can’t remember how it goes right now. But it’s a good one. 🙂
Wednesday: We had this really cool member/recent convert come out on exchange with us, and she was awesome. I sat in the back with her little 4 year old boy. He was cracking me up. He was playing Super Mario on his Nintendo DS, and he was teaching me all the names of the animals in spanish, and teaching me how to play the game, even though I already know how. It was funny.
Friday: We had a really cool lesson with our investigator, L. She is really young, but she kind of seems to get what life is all about more than some people who are older and have more life experience. We taught her the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and when we said the first vision, she paused for a moment, then said, “Wow, that is amazing.” She just really got the meaning behind it, and what a special/important event it was. Then she told us she was for sure going to read the Book of Mormon. We are pretty excited to see what happens with her. 🙂
Sunday: We talked about the Creation in gospel principles, and we went around the room telling something that God created that we are grateful for. I talked about the trees, and also sunrises and sunsets, because I love both of those.
From Mom: Church was awesome! Elizabeth A. gave a great talk. She told the story of the guy who has to do push ups so everyone can have a donut. It is a example of the atonement. Your cute little dad was tearing up. He is so tender. I love that. Brother W. gave an awesome talk on forgiveness. He gave part of the story in that book “Return From Tomorrow”. The book about the guy who died and then came back. The story he told was about the guy who was in a concentration camp. Everyone thought he hadn’t been there long because he was in such good shape, physically and emotionally. They found out that he had been there the longest. The guy in the story wanted to know why he was doing so good. He told them that the Germans had killed his family. His wife and two daughters and three little boys. He asked them to kill him too, but they wouldn’t because he spoke German and they could use him. He knew that what killed his family was hate. He didn’t want to have the same feelings that the Germans had when they killed his family. So he chose to forgive.
Mom: I love that analogy of the push ups for the Atonement. It makes it more real, because you see someone suffering. Sometimes, i think we overlook what really happened because it seems so abstract, and impersonal, but it really is so very personal. I never had a lesson like that in seminary, but I heard they used to do one with a really strong jock guy, and he would have to do the push ups for you whether or not you decided to take the treat. It’s true, because Jesus Christ really suffered for our sins, even if we choose not to repent of them. He still felt the pain of them happening, and then we feel it too, if we choose not to repent.
So questions:
1-any new investigators? 1. We have a few new investigators with real potential. One of them, J., has had a lot of really big drastic changes in his life. His wife and him recently seperated, which we could tell was really hard for him, and he had a death in the family in December in a really bad car crash. These things aren’t really good or desirable, but they humble people, and make them more opne to receive the gospel.
3-what’s your favorite color? (Buddy the elf wants to know) 3. Tell Buddy my favorite color is still kelly green. And tell him I miss him, and can’t wait to come back so we can make snow angels together. 🙂
Special question:
4-How do you forgive someone, if they have done something unforgivable?
4. Forgiviness is somethign that is really hard for a lot of people. Forgiveness is something that is a choice you make for yourself. The person you are hurting the most when you can’t forgive someone is yourself, and most of the time, the other person doesn’t even know they have hurt you. Something I have learned on the mission, is that when you cannot forgive someone for something they have done, you are making it so the Lord cannot forgive you when you do something wrong. There is a scripture about that, but I can’t remember where it is. Also, another question is: Are you going to let other people’s actions keep you from salvation? Because that is what you do when you are unforgiving.
From Dad: The story your Mom did not tell you from Brother W’s talk also. It was about a couple who brought their blind child to see if he could be healed. The man who was going to give the blessing had the impression that the parents of the boy had a lot of hate and that the boy could be healed only if they would give up the hate. The parents talked and said that their son would have to go through life blind because they were not willing to give up the hate. I find it unbelievable that they cared more about holding on to hate than curing their son. The contrast between the two stories is stark. I love going to Church and refilling my tank.
Dad: That story makes me sad. Sometimes people put their own selfish desires/problems in the way of something good, and then the good cannot happen. I have seen that a lot with people on the mission. They care more about winning the argument than solving the problem. It’s really hard to watch people that could have such great things in their lives, but because they are ignorant or they cannot move past a problem they have had, they prevent themselves from progressing and receiving blessings. It’s really sad. But we just pray for them, and know that the Lord will take care of it how it needs to be. I realyl liked how you talked about refilling your tank at church. That is something we use when we talk to people about church attendance. Either that or recharging a battery. That is truly what it is. All week you get worn down by the world, and people, but then you get to go to church and focus on your relationship with God, and renew your convenants you made a baptism. It’s awesome! 🙂
Emmy: Man, I can’t believe you gave up on the hair challenge! On well, I am still going to do it. But I am still waiting for a letter from you. 🙂 🙂 🙂 So this will be all I am writing. But I would also like an update on my Facebook if you could be so kind. 🙂 Love ya! Bye! Peace and blessings!
Gotta go now. I love you all a lot.
Love, Kelsey XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
Howzit-Elder Flexy!
Elder Flexy 19:4 -email-Mama,
this week has been good we have been super busy. teaching a lot we got a car and it is so nice to have i’ve been walking almost half my mission. we are just pluggin a long. its good to hear church is so good. here its tough because if we don’t show up to church it won’t happen its gonna be nice to go to church and not have to run the show.
1-any new investigators? 1.ya some but there progress is a bit slow.
2-anything interesting happen this week? 2.not really we had a usual week.
3-what’s your favorite color? (Buddy the elf wants to know) 3.yellow
Special question:
4-How do you forgive someone, if they have done something unforgivable? 4.well Jesus forgave those who killed him so i think i can forgive anyone if he could do that.
love you Love Elder Flexy
Baba,
wow the stories in the email are intense wow it gos to show how stubburn people can be and how forgiving and great people can be. anyway life is good the work is good… i guess everything is good. love you
Love Elder Flexy
M,
thats so cool your gonna be a can are you going to work at the gardens as a cna? love you work hard.
Love Elder Flexy
Sunday Best!
A grateful heart…comes through expressing gratitude to our Heavenly Father for His blessings and to those around us for all that they bring into our lives. This requires conscious effort—at least until we have truly learned and cultivated an attitude of gratitude. Often we feel grateful and intend to express our thanks but forget to do so or just don’t get around to it. Someone has said that “feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” -Thomas S. Monson
—————————————————–
I started a gratitude journal. I have been having so much fun thinking about the multiple blessings that Father in Heaven has given me. Some things in my journal are big, like God, Himself, and His Son, Jesus. Others are smaller, like the fact that I can walk to church. Or that I have food in my fridge. It is powerful to be thankful, and aware of all that God has given us. There’s always something, many things. I will “receive all things with thankfulness”, thanking Heavenly Father for all blessings given.
Hope your Sunday was the Best! Love, Joy
Heroes!
Gordon B. Hinckley is one of my heroes!
He was a prophet of God. It has been four years since he passed away. I can’t believe it’s been that long. I have watched him in awe for many years. Always amazed at all he accomplished. I say that because even though I never met him or knew him personally, he was always there, an amazing example. Always a part of my life, from a distance. He had the cutest sense of humor. I loved everything he said.
One time I was at a women’s conference at BYU (Brigham Young University). President Hinckley’s wife was giving a talk with her daughters. She was super cute and fun, too! But at the end of the talk President Hinckley came out to get her.
The crowd stood.
We all started singing, “We Thank Thee O’ God For a Prophet”.
The feeling in the Marriott Center was awesome! I knew he was a prophet! I already knew it before, but really knew it then, more than ever! I love him. He lived a good life. He was a wonderful person. He made me want to be better.
Some of his Wonderful words of wisdom:
“In all of living, have much fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured.”
———————————–
“Cultivate an attitude of happiness. Cultivate a spirit of optimism. Walk with faith, rejoicing in the beauties of nature, in the goodness of those you love, in the testimony which you carry in your heart concerning things divine.”
———————————-
“Be grateful, be smart, be clean, be true, be humble, be prayerful.”
Family History Friday: Online Classes!
Don’t we live in a great time?
There are so many good things about technology. I found a neat thing on Family Search.
They have online classes.
There’s no excuse now! Right?
I admit, there are times when I just want to stay home. I don’t want to get dressed up and leave the house. I don’t have to, I can watch and learn on my computer. What a neat thing. You can check it out here!
Thanks, Family Search!!
My little “Squishy Pants!”
What a doll!
Give us a smile!
I love you so much!
I love you too, Grandma.
Two Cents!
T and G were playing on Emily’s bed.
G: Wow, you almost squished my head with the mattress.
T: Yeah, you could have been “puppicated”!
A Story
This is a story about four people. Their names were: Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done, and Everybody was sure Somebody would do it. Actually, Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody, Nobody did what Anybody could have done!
-Author Unknown
Totally “Fort Worth” It!
Hermana Kelsey 12:1 -email-HAPPY 11 MONTHS
IN THE MISSION!!!!
(exactly 11 months ago today, I was leaving to go to the MTC. Do you remember that day?…cause I sure do! Time has really flown by though)
Dearest family,
This week was pretty good. I feel like we have been working harder than I have in a really long time. I feel like our numbers don’t show the work we do. I feel like that’s hard for me, because I don’t like numbers, but I see how well I am doing by them and if they are bad, then I feel bad. But things are good. I have been really stressed lately, and I’m not sure why, but I am kind of starting to get that gum thing again, that I had in the MTC. But other than that I am doing great.
Mom: That is way cool you are staying busy with the kids. I’ve been kind of sad lately thinking about how big my Tashers is going to be when I get home. 🙁 She won’t be my little squisher anymore. She’ll be a big girl in school. Could you please send my some pictures of her? Also, while you are at it, I wanted to see if you could send me a couple of pictures of me when I was a baby, and also a picture of our house, so I have one. 🙂 That would be great.
Okay on to the questions:
1-Are the people you are teaching, progressing? What are their issues, if not? 1. Most of our people aren’t progressing. We are trying really hard with some people, but there are always obstacles in the way. Most of the problems with have with the hispanic people is the Law of Chastity. People are either not married to each other, of they are married to two people. It’s really a hard thing, because most of the time, their circumstances make it very difficult to overcome things, especially when people are poor and struggling with money, so they can’t afford to get a divorce or to get married. But we have seen a lot of people who have made great sacrifices to progress closer to baptism. There is one lady, I., and she has quit drinking coffee to live the Word of Wisdom, she moved out of her boyfriend’s house so she could live the Law of Chastity, and now she lost her job (which isn’t a good thing, but…), so she can go to church on Sundays. So she is doing really great, and her sons want to get baptized too. 🙂
2-What is your favorite thing to teach? 2. My favorite thing to teach is the Plan of Salvation. I have these pictures that we use when we teach it, and people just seem to get it more than any other part. Plus, a lot of the time people have worries or fears about what happens after death, but when we let them know, they feel comfort and peace. Especially if they have had a loved one die recently.
3-What is your favorite thing about your current area? 3. My favorite thing about H-town is the ward. The members are so cool! They actually get mad at you if you don’t call them to come out on exchange with you, or if you don’t ask them to do favors for you. And the bishop, and ex-bishop are way cool, and basically willing to do whatever you need, so that is super helpful.
4-What is your least favorite thing about your current area? 4. I can’t really say I have a least favorite thing about this area, but one thing I have trouble with is the drama. There is a lot of drama in the ward, but I guess that is what happens when there are a lot of people all together. I think I was just oblivious to drama mostly before the mission, and now I’ve been thrown right into the middle of it.
Special Question:
6-How can someone gain a personal testimony of the Savior? 6. The only way to gain a personal testimony is to go to the source of all truth, God, and receive an answer from Him. We always tell people as missionaries, that we aren’t here to convince them. We are just here to bring the truth, and to invite them to act and gain a testimony for themselves. And they can only do that through reading the scriptures, praying to Heavenly Father, and coming to church.
Dad:
That is so cool you had a fun camp out. We will definitely need to go camping after I get home. I miss it a lot. 🙁 But we’ll have some good times when I get back. Also that is too bad the 49ers lost, but that is way cool the Saints are going to the Superbowl. I really love the Saints. I really want to watch it this year, but I guess you’ll just have to record it or something for me. 🙂 But anyway, that’s way cool. Well, be good.
Wow, Emmysaurus, you are doing CNA?! What are you going to do with that? Do you want to be a nurse? Cool cool! That’s way awesome. That will help you a lot, as long as you can stand seeing gross bloody stuff, and nasty wounds, and stuff. But I think you’ll be good. Anyway, you should write me a letter soon.
Love you all! Be good! Sorry this is short.
Love, Kelsey XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX