Category Archives: Totally “Fort Worth” it-Hermana Kelsey

Totally "Fort Worth" It!

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Hermana Kelsey 6:1 -email-

Mama!
That’s awesome you are going to do daycare again. You will love that, of course! 🙂
I had a really great week too. On Monday, I found out I was geting transferred, of course. I was super sad, because I love Temple, and we had so many good things going on there. But now that I’m in Arlington it is really awesome here too. Very different, but I like it. Here are just a few of the differences:
-We have a ward instead of a branch, which means a lot more members
-There are 3 sets of missionaries in our ward (two other sets of Elders and us). In Temple, we only had one companionship for a huge area and that was us.
But it is really a great area. Everyone that we have talked to has been commenting about my spanish. They all ask me how long I’ve been learning, and when I tell them they are really surprised, and comment about how well I speak it. They also talk about how I don’t really have a gringo accent, which is cool too, because even people that have been speaking it for a while sometimes have gringo accents. I think that is a good sign that my spanish is improving. 🙂 Hopefully it still continues to get better.
I really did have a good birthday. Nothing really happened in the morning, but then we were visiting some people, and the zone leaders in our area drove by. They said something about President Sagers, and I commented about how he had texted me that morning. One of our zone leaders used to be assisstant to the president, and he knew that President only texts people on their birthdays, so he asked me if it was my birthday. I told him, “Yeah”, and he was like, “Sister, you need a Slurpee.” So I said okay, and he took us to 711 to get a Slurpee. Then later in the day, we were eating dinner with some members, and the Elders that we serve with brought over pan dulce (or sweet bread, {it’s super yummy!}) and they all sang happy birthday to me, in spanish. So overall it was a pretty good birthday.
Oh man!! I miss my sweet Tashers!!! Tell her I love her. Does she even still remember me? I sure hope so.
To answer your question, yes we are living in a member’s home. It is actually a really nice house and the couple, the K’s, are pretty cool. The husband works a lot (in fact, I only met him yesterday, and I’ve been living at their house since Wednesday). But they a pretty cool. I’m not really sure how I like living in a member’s home though. I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it either. It’s definitely different than living in your own apartment.
My companionship is great. Hermana Q is awesome! She is a Lamanite! And she is actually a convert to the church. We get along really well too. We’re gonna do lots of good things in this area.
We have a lot of great teaching experience, but none really that I can pinpoint right now.
The biggest challenge we face is trying to get people to live the law of chastity. Hispanic people in general are not into getting married, so then they can’t get baptized. It’s kind of hard, but every type of missionary work has it’s hard points.
Just pray for all of them. I don’t really know most of our investigators here yet, but everyone that we talk to needs blessings so much. Especially the blessings of the gospel.
How do we receive personal revelation? Well there are lots of different ways. Sometimes, when we pray, and ask a specific question, God tells us in our hearts what the answer is. Sometimes, when we are reading the scriptures, a certain chapter or verse really sticks out to us, and it answers a question that we have been having. Sometimes, someone that we confide in says something, and you know that the thing they said could really have only come from God. And then you know that he is listening, that he cares about you and what is going on in your life, and he wants to help you.
Well, I better go now! I love you lots. Be strong. Thanks for sending my package for me. 🙂
Love, Hermana Kelsey
P.S. Did you ever hear anything more about Cole?
Papi,
Ha ha, thanks for the recipe. I might try that sometime. I really am horrible when it comes to cooking though. We just don’t really have time to do it. We usually eat something we can make super fast and easy. It’s lame, because now I am starting to gain weight. Just a little, but I did so good my first two transfers, so I’m kind of upset that it’s finally starting to stick. 🙁
Also, sorry about your toe. Maybe you shouldn’t get so crazy in soccer! 🙂 Jk. My other companion, Sister S, was the craziest soccer player ever. She was really violent with me, too. But I could take it. 🙂
Anyway, I better go. Love you!
Love, Hermana Kelsey
Emmysaurus Rex!
I am doing great. Thanks for sending me a card. I still haven’t gotten it yet, but I might as well say it ahead of time. 🙂 That’s awesome you had fun at girls camp. I’m glad that you are such a good example for the other girls and that you take care of the girls that have trouble. 🙂 That is a really good thing.
Anyways, I gots to go. I’ll be talking to ya at another time. Bye!!
Love, Hermana Kelsey

Totally "Fort Worth" It!

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Hermana Kelsey 5:4 -email-

Dear family,
I am getting transferred. I’m going to A. on Wednesday. I am super sad, because I am going to miss the people we are working with now, and there are lots of great things happening here in T. and also in K. But I know it’s where I need to go. I probably won’t get your package for a while, because it will porbably go to my old apartment. That’s okay though.
Tell people so they can send me letters!!
We had a really great week this week too. We had a competition in our district to see who could get the most new investigators in one week, and we lost, but our district got 37 new investigators. Wow! It is really cool. We had our last p-day for the people who are getting transfered from this area. It was super fun.
I’m sorry to hear about Cole. I will definitely be praying for him. He is such a good guy. I hope everything works out good. Keep me updated.
Dad: Tell Annette that I see Sister H twice a week, because we stay at their apartment when we go down to Killeen. She is a really great missionary. I’m gonna miss that girl. 🙁
That’s cool that Meg and Jase are in your ward. Where are they living now? Tell that girl that she needs to write me a letter!!!! 🙂
Riley: How is life? How is my sweet niece?! Adorable, of course. I already know that though. You should write me a real letter soon. If I have time to write letters to people than you surely have time to write a letter to me. :)Emmy: Did you get my letter? I hope so. You should send me one back soon. I hope girls camp is great for you. I always loved girls camp. I really do miss it.

Anyways, I love you all. Sorry this is so short. We took too long at p-day activity so now I have to hurry. But thank you for the birthday wishes. I’m not gonna lie, this birthday kind of sucks. I really wanted to stay in T. for another transfer. But it’ll be okay. 🙂 Bye, love ya.
Hermana Kelsey
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Totally "Fort Worth" It!

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Hermana Kelsey 5:3 -email-
Mi Familia!
Hey everyone! I hope you are all doing great. This week was kind of weird, but pretty good.
Monday: I already told you a little about Monday in the last letter, but I was on exchange with Sister C. We got locked out of our van, because the clicker wouldn’t work, and for some reason some people decided not to tell us that there was a key hidden inside. It was quite an adventure. We also got to watch some fireworks from the sister’s apartment in K. It was cool, because F. was the only place in our area of Texas that got to have fireworks, because of the drought and fire dangers. So we were really lucky to get to see them.
Tuesday: I spent a LOT of time speaking in Spanish. It was really hard, and I didn’t know how to say a lot of things, but when I have to I can get by. It was pretty awesome. We ate dinner with a less active family that is in the military, and then Sister C did this funny spiritual thought with a dish towel. She told a story about a chicken, and how it was her pet, but it got run over by a car because she didn’t listen to her mom, and played in the street with it. Then she folded the towel this certain way, and when she was done it looked like one of those chickens with no head, and all it’s feather missing. It was pretty funny. The kids really liked it too.
Wednesday: We went up to W. for Zone Huddle. It was really fun. I got my real companion back. It was fun to have an exchange for a little bit, but I’m glad Sister S is back, and I don’t have to do all the talking in Spanish. 🙂 Other than that, it was kind of a bust day. We tried to see a bunch of people, and they either weren’t home or were busy and wanted us to come back later. It’s hard when we have days like that. But the good ones make it all worth it.
Thursday: Joe (one of our investigators)’s wife died. She was in the hospital, because she had cancer, but then the cancer went away, but the chemotherapy and all that ruined her insides (her kidneys were failing and her bladder had exploded). She was on life support in the hospital for a long time, but she finally passed away. It was a really hard thing for him. But I know that the things we have been teaching him are definitely helping. He wants to get baptized really bad. We’re hoping he can in a week or so. Hopefully sooner rather than later, because I might be getting transfered this transfer. 🙁 But it’ll be okay.
Friday: We studied Spanish too hard and for too long in the morning. I got a really bad migraine. But I’m still improving on it. My branch president is so cool, and he always tells me how my Spanish is getting better, and I sound like a true Hispanic. 🙂 It’s pretty awesome. I’m really not that good though. But I’m still working on it. Someday, I’ll be able to speak it fluently. Also, we tracted in a trailer park where we met some really cool people, and met a ton more Hispanic people. It was so cool. It’s pretty much a gold mine. We are stoked to be working in that area now. We have a challenge this week in our district to see who can get the most new investigators this week. We are shooting for 20 because I’m pretty sure none of the Elders will be able to get that many. 🙂 Also, if we win we get Olive Garden for free, because the losers have to buy dinner for the winners.
Saturday: We had a really great lesson with one of our new investigators, Elise. She is super cool, and she is actually the sister to one of our other investigators, Edgar, who is also really cool. She will probably get baptized someday. 🙂 Also, one of our other investigators, Lucas, professed his love for Sister S, so we can’t go see him anymore. He has a problem with falling for sister missionaries apparently. It’s sad, because he actually, legitimately was progressing towards baptism. But hopefully if Spanish Elders get put back in our area, they can go see him at some later point. Also, we had some really delicious tamales, made by one of our members. She sells them to make money, so she is like crazy good at making them.
Sunday: We had another hard day. I am now having issues with creepy guys. Our investigator Joe (see above), likes me, and when I went to shake his hand, he all tried to pull me in, and held onto my hand for way too long. It weirded me out, so I just pulled my hand away. It was gross. But it’s all good. Also, I’m to the point where I am now expecting things of people, and they are starting to disappoint me. It’s really hard. 🙁 I want to help them so much, and they don’t want to help themselves, so there is nothing I can do for them.
Today, we went to Grace (Joe’s wife)’s funeral at a Catholic church. It was really different.
I love you all!! Be safe. Have a great week.
Con amor,
Hermana KelseyP.S. Seester! I finally got your letter, and I will be writing you back sometime today. 🙂

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Totally "Fort Worth" It!

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Hermana Kelsey 5:2 -email-
Mama,
Hola! Como esta? Como fue su semana? (How was your week?) Yo espero que todo esta bien. (I hope that everything is okay.)
We had kind of hard week this week. But I know that that means that this coming week will be that much better. 🙂
Monday: It was p-day. We didn’t really do anything fun, because we still don’t have miles to use. But we did get in a couple of good lessons. One of our investigators, Trisha, has a really cute little girl named Sammy, who is like 6. She was sitting in the room while we were reading from the BoM with her, and she was brushing the dog’s hair. She walked out of the room and then came over to me. She told me that she wanted to brush my hair too, so she ended up brushing my hair for like 20 minutes. It was really cute. And it felt really good.
Tuesday: We rode the bus for most of the day. Sister S got a really bad sunburn from standing out in the sun waiting for the bus. I got a little bit burned, but not bad at all. I’m starting to get a really good tan (well farmer’s tan). I’m hoping that when I can speak Spanish, I can tell people I’m from Mexico and they will actually believe me. 🙂 We had a really fun dinner with one of our member families. The mom and the dad are both deployed right now so the grandparents are watching the two little boys while they are gone. They one boy is 7 and the other is 5. The one that is 5, always tells us the most random things. While we were eating dinner, everyone was talking, but then it got quiet. All of the sudden we hear him from the other room say, “When I am 6, they better say surprise!” It was so cute and funny. And also really random, but that is just how he is. Also, I was kind of sad this day, because our branch president’s brother and sister came out on exchange with us for the last time. They are leaving for Mexico Wednesday, for a couple months. 🙁
Wednesday: We were supposed to have district meeting today, but Sister S and I decided to be rebels and not go. 🙂 I’m just kidding. She had a doctor’s appointment up in W. at the same time district meeting was going on. On the way up to district meeting the elders were all quoting random movies in a Sean Connery voice. It was seriously one of the funniest things ever. They quoted like kid’s movies, and they sounded so weird. I think you had to have been there. Also, another random thing. We went to go visit our baptismal date, and he was wearing a really funny shirt. It said “Bromance”, and it had two football players doing a chest bump. The thing that made it the funniest though, was that he didn’t even know what it said. He asked us what it meant but we didn’t know how to explain it without it being awkward. It was pretty funny though.
Thursday: It was planning day. We spend most of the day in our apartment, as usual, but we had made an appointment to go see an investigator so we had to ride the bus to go see her. After we got off the bus, we were walking along talking about if we wanted to go talk to some people standing outside of their house. All of the sudden this crazy dog came out of nowhere at us. It was a mama dog that thought we were a threat, and she almost attacked us. She was barking really loud, and showing us her teeth. But she just ran away when she got like 5 feet away. Then, as we started walking again, I broke my shoe. the strap just ripped right off. It was sad. Then, the bus driver yelled at us. He is not a very nice man, and he is racist and sexist. But oh well.
Friday: I was feeling really sick today. We spent a lot of time driving around to see people who weren’t even home. It was kind of a bust day. But then we had a Noche de Hogar (Family Home Evening) with a family from the ward, and it was really good. We all got the giggles really bad during the closing hymn, but other than that it was a really good FHE.
Saturday: We had another BAPTISM!!! One of our investigators, Jesse, got baptized in the evening. It was a very strange baptism. He is an older guy (like 64), and he didn’t understand how the baptism actually happened. When our ward mission leader went to put him back in the water, he kept fighting him because he didn’t want to go backwards. It was so awkward. And then he had to get baptized again, because his given name really isn’t Jesse. It J. C. So we had to refill the font, and baptize him again. It was crazy. But now he is baptized. 🙂
Sunday: We only had 2 investigators at church. 🙁 Usually we have like between 7 and 12 investigators. It was sad. But we got a few good lessons in, and our recent convert Tony (my other baptism), came out on exchange with us and taught part of the lesson. He is so cool. He really is a different person than the one I met my first day in T.
Monday: We had p-day activity in W. Also, I am on companion exchange with Sister C, who doesn’t speak any spanish. It’s crazy because I have to say everything, and some of the time I don’t know how to say it. But I can definitely speak more than I could a couple months ago, so that’s good to know. Also, yesterday we got locked out of our van. We ended up having to call a locksmith to get us in. It was okay though. Heavenly Father was watching out for us. Also we got to watch some fireworks out the window of the Killeen sister’s apartment. It was cool.
Anyway, I better go now. I love you lots. Te amo mucho! 🙂
Love, Hermana KelseyPapi,

Wow congratulations on the roof! I’m glad it is finally getting fixed, and that you are getting lots of help. 🙂 That is really awesome. Sorry this is so short. I accidetnally took to long to write the rest of this email. 🙁 But, i love you. I’ll talk to you next Monday. 🙂 Bye.
Love, Hermana
Emmyaurus Rex,
I am not writing you anything because I have still not received a letter from you. JK. But seriously, I have to go because I still need to write to President Sagers, and I’m almost out of time. Bye!

Totally "Fort Worth" It!

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Hermana Kelsey 5:1 -email-
Mi Familia!!
Hola! Como estan? I did have a great week! Lots of really great things are happening in T.! I will continue with that in a few lines. But first off, that would be so cool if you got a job with the church. I’ve heard they take really good care of  their employees. I will definitely be praying that you get the job. It has been really hot down here in Texas. 90’s and 100’s plus humidity, and we’ve been walking and tracting A LOT, because we are low on miles again. They cut our miles for this month, so we have even less than before. But we just try to drink lots and lots of water, so we don’t get dehydrated.
Anyway, I miss having family parties. 🙁 I also miss real home cooked food. We get it a few times when we eat with members, but i miss having a real Sunday dinner. It’s okay though.
Okay so this week…
Monday: We had our p-day as usual. Although it was kind of a weird p-day. We went down to R’s to visit come less actives and an investigator down there. But, none of them were home. We also ate at this restaurant that one of our members works at so it’s free to eat there. It was kind of a bust day.
Tuesday: I accidentally broke my glasses. 🙁 I was in the bathroom and I leaned forward to pick something up off the ground, and they just fell of my face and broke in half. It was sad. We also tracted a lot. We spent about 4 hours doing white cards, which are people that have talked with missionaries at some point before and said they were interested, so we go to their house and set up appointments for other days.
Wednesday: We also spent a lot of time tracting today. We tracted in this kind of scary area, which it wasn’t bad because it was the middle of the day, but still. Anyway, this random lady came up to us, and asked if she could use our phone. Sister S let her, and then Sister S asked if we could share a pass along card with her. She said sure. As Sister S was explaining what it was, the lady blurted out, “I’m a prostitute.” Sister S just stopped talking for a second. We were both a little shocked. But Sister S just continued talking about how the gospel can help everyone, no matter what their situation. All we have to do is rely on the Lord. She agreed, and then we left. But it was a strange experience to say the least.
Thursday: We went to this anniversary party for this old couple that comes to the Assisted Living place by our apartment that we go and visit. It was their 68th wedding anniversary. They are so old, but still really healthy and full of life. And also a little bit crazy. But we love them all the same. They come and do an activity thing every Thursday morning, to get the old people there out of their rooms, and doing something active (ish). They are so cute. Also, we met this other really old lady from a referral we received from one of the members of our branch. She talked so much she made us late for our FHE with one of our less active families. But she was really cute.
Friday: Nothing really happened today. It was just a normal day in paradise. 🙂
Saturday: We had interviews with President Sagers. He told me I need to not be afraid to speak spanish, but also that I probably won’t have it down very well until about 9 months in. Hopefully I get it sooner than that though. I am definitely improving, but I still struggle with knowing what to say to people. I usually can understand most of what they are saying, but I just don’t know what to say back to them. Also, Mexico played against, the U.S. and won. I didn’t watch the game, because we aren’t allowed, but I have inside sources that tell me who won,a nd who is playing who. Secretly, I wanted Mexico to win, but I told everyone I was rooting for the U.S. I have to support my own country, right? 🙂 But especially recently, I have learned to really love the people from Mexico. I used to be a little afraid of Hispanic people, but they are seriously some of the coolest people I have ever met.
Sunday: We had a great Sunday. We had 8 investigators in sacrament meeting, which is really great. Last week we had 11, but 8 is still really good. We are getting so busy here. I feel like really stretched thin sometimes, like there’s too many people for just the two of us to be in charge of, but somehow, with the help of the Lord, we always figure it out. We had our baptismal interview with our investigator that is going to be baptized on July 2nd. His name is Jesse. He’s a pretty cool guy, but I’m not sure if he is getting baptized for the right reasons. He wants to marry one of our members, so I think that probably has something to do with his sudden decision to get baptized, when he didn’t really have a desire to do it before. But we’re going to baptize him. 🙂 Already my 2nd baptism. It’s so exciting! But it was also a sad day because our branch president’s brother and sister, who help us all the time with the missionary work, are leaving for Mexico on Wednesday, so it was their last Sunday. 🙁
But anyway, that was my week. I’ll answer a few of the questions you sent, but not all of them apply to me.
1 Have you heard about transfers?
1. I don’t know about transfers, because our transfers aren’t until the 20th of July, but I have a feeling President is going to transfer me. I really hope he doesn’t, but I just have this feeling that it is going to happen. 🙁
3 What is your favorite thing about working in T?
3 My favorite thing about working in T. are the people. We have some of the greatest members in our branch, and the people just generally are nice. We have met a lot of people who are very open to the gospel as well. Heavenly Father is definitely preparing people to receive the gospel.
4 What is your least favorite thing about working in T? 
4. I don’t really have a least favorite thing, but I’m not really a fan of the heat, or the bugs. We get mosquito bites all the time, because we have to teach outside a lot at night.
7 Do you have a member family that helps you a lot?
7 A member family that helps us a lot is the S’s. That is our branch president and his siblings. Our president is so involved with everyone, and knows everyone’s story. It’s amazing.
Anyway, I have to go now. But I love all of you lots! Sorry, I don’t have time to write to you all! 🙁 Bye!
con amor,
Hermana Kelsey

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Hermana Kelsey 4:5 -email-


Mama!
This week has been great. There were a few weird things on the way, but all is well. I have decided that I am going to write you differently for a little while to try out how I like it.
Monday:
We played soccer for last p-day. Hermana S, my companion, is a little crazy in soccer and she’s like a freakin wall. If you try to go up against her she will boot you out of the way. We get a little violent with each other, but that is how we do companionship inventory. 🙂 I’m just kidding.
Tuesday:
I had a really bad day. We spent a lot of time at the hospital because we have a new investigator who’s wife is in the ICU so we go and teach him at the hospital. Anyway, I don’t know what it is about that place, but I get really sad and stuff when we go there, and I can’t understand what anyone is saying in spanish. It’s weird. But anyway, so we were there visiting, and it threw me off for the whole rest of the night. So I pretty much felt completely useless. Anyway, so I cried a little. Then as we were driving home I was crying a little and all of the sudden I see police lights in my rearview mirror. Yeah, I got pulled over! He told me it was because I was driving around without my lights on. I blame Sister V for that, because she told me they turned on automatically. But it was okay, he just let me off. Anyway, as we were pulling away after that, we got a call from one of our branch members that Joe (our investigator at the hospital) ‘s wife had just passed away. So then we were all sad. Then about 30 minutes later we got a call from her saying that they had revived her. So she wasn’t actually dead. It was crazy!
Wednesday:
We met with the Young Women in our branch (there was supposed to be 5 girls, but there ended up only being one). We talked to her about missionary work, and answered any questions she had. It was pretty cool. Then we personalized some Book of Mormons by writing our testimonies in the front. After we got done, the Young Women’s president gave us a gift bag with some stuff from Bath and Body Works. It was pretty awesome.
Thursday:
We went to the assisted living place by our apartment, and “gambled” with the old people. We played 21 with these giant dice. It was fun. Those old people are so awesome, but most of them are completely NUTS! Most of them fall asleep while we are there. It’s funny. Also, we are running low on miles, of course, so we tried to ride them bus today. We ended up getting stuck in downtown T., because the bus didn’t come when it was supposed to. It was pretty lame. But we had one of the members from the english ward give us a ride. She saved our lives! Just kidding.
Friday:
Nothing really happened today, except we decided to tract this one trailer park out in the middle of nowhere. We pulled in, and I asked Hermana S where she wanted to start. She said, “I don’t know”. I didn’t know either, so we just drove for a few seconds and then I randomly stopped the van. We got out, knocked a couple doors. We thought it was a bust, because it was all uninterested white people. Then the next one we knocked was a Hispanic woman. She was really interested. We asked her if there were any other hispanic people around, and she told us there was only them, and the lady across the street, who was at work when we were there. It was crazy that we found her!
Saturday:
We have a restaurant down here called Billy Bob’s. They have an eating challenge called “The Fat Daddy Challenge”. You have to eat a hamburger with 6 patties, a large fry, and a milkshake, all within 30 minutes. So a bunch of the Elders decided to try it. It was crazy. Only four of the eight actually did it, but it was really fun to watch. Except I felt sick just watching them.
Sunday:
We talked in sacrament today…and I may or may not have almost passed out close to the end of my talk. I accidentally locked my knees the whole time I was talking. It was really weird. But on the good side, my branch president commented on how well my spanish is coming along, so that was cool.
Anyway, I’m a little sad I missed F’s Day! That is one of my favorite days of the year. I better go now though. Te amo mucho!
Love, Kelsey
Papi!
Happy Father’s Day! I wrote you a card that I sent in the mail today. I actually forgot yesterday was Father’s Day until our branch president announced it at church. Whoops! That’s cool you’re working on the apartment. I’m glad you are still keeping busy. I sure am! Our area is doing so great! We have had so many amazing miracles happening. I know the Lord knows that the people here are ready for the gospel. Anyway, I better go now. Te amo!
Love, Kelsey

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Kelsey with Hermana Vaughn, her trainer.
She just went home last week!
Hermana Kelsey 4:4 -email-


Mama!
Hola!! Como esta? Como fue su semana? (How was your week) I hope things are good. We have had so many miracles, and blessings this last week or so. On Tuesday, we found out that one of our investigators who has been coming to church for like 5 years, and couldn’t get baptized because she wasn’t married, is finally getting married at the end of July! We are so excited. She will be getting baptized the week after. 🙂 Also we have a few really awesome investigators that will hopefully be getting baptized soon as well. They are pretty legit!
Sister Vaughn was with me for Monday and Tuesday, but she left Wednesday. I was really sad. 🙁 But my new companion is really cool too. Her name is Sister Summers, and she is 6’2″!! We make quite the companionship. 🙂 But we even each other out pretty well. Her spanish is muy bien, which is great because mine sure isn’t. It’s getting better though. Slowly, but surely. I prayed in our meeting that we have with our branch president every Sunday, and he commented on how much better my spanish has gotten already since the last time he heard me pray. That was pretty cool. Also, just as a side note, Sister Summers is from Morgan and she lives like right across the street from Summer W.! Crazy right?! Even crazier, her brother is serving his mission in the same place as cousin Andrew! It sure is a small world.
On Saturday, we ate dinner at one of our investigators homes, and she made the spicest food I’ve ever eaten. It was so hot! I thought I was going to die. But it was pretty good too.
I miss the Empey’s! Julie and Melissa sent me a letter together, so that was really cool. Also, my best friend, Amanda, wrote me a letter finally! 🙂 That was really cool. That’s crazy that Landon is coming home that soon! I swear he hasn’t been gone for two years.
Awww! I miss my sweet niece! I was showing Sister Summers that family album you gave me, and I saw Natasha in the picture, and it made me a little sad. But then I was okay. It’s just gonna be really crazy, because when I get home she’ll be so big! But it’s okay. 🙂
Anyway, I better go now. Te amo mucho!! (I love you much)
con amor, Hermana Kelsey
Papi,
Hola! I’m kind of jealous you get to play real life soccer. We play this game we call chair soccer, but it’s not the same as real soccer. Also, I’ve gotten really into soccer, because a lot of our investigators love soccer, and will talk to you more if you know about soccer. So I have an “insider” that always tells me who won the soccer games and who Mexico played against, and then I can talk to people on the streets about it. It’s fun. But I really wish we could play for real.
If we can borrow a bike from someone, we might ride around a little bit, which should be fun. Although I am really out of shape, so maybe not.
I remember when you taught me how to do a backflip. That was so long ago. Man, I miss jumping on the tramp! Some of our members have trampolines, and I want to jump on them so bad, but we aren’t allowed. 🙁
Anyway, I better go now. Te amo! (I love you)
Love, Hermana Kelsey 
Emmysaurus Rex!
I’m still waiting on a real letter from you!!!!! You crazy girl! I’m glad you enjoyed church though. I love church. Our branch is so great. All of the members are so cool, and they are so closely knit because there are so few of them. Everyone is friends with everyone else. It’s so cool. I love the spanish people so much! I was little scared before, because, I’m not gonna lie, I was a little prejudice. But most of the people I have met are so awesome, and the Hispanic people are so much nicer than white people and african american people. We try so hard to find Hispanics, because we don’t want to have to talk to white people. They are mean.
Anyway, I’m glad you are having fun with Melissa. Did you know she sent me a letter? Yeah…she sure did. So maybe you should send me one too!! 🙂
Anyway, I probably better go now. Te amo!! Be good. Make good choices. Do what you know you are supposed to.
Love, Hermana Kelsey 

P.S. What does BFN mean?



XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX  


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Hermana Kelsey 4:3 -email-

Mama,
 
I hope thing are bien for you. I an doing pretty fantastico. We had my first baptism yesterday. It was pretty freakin’ AWESOME! He is a cool guy. We could tell he was nervous, and then while we were waiting, he started crying. But not just crying. He was BAWLING! We asked him if he was okay and he told us he was just really happy. We did it at 9 in the morning, and he got confirmed during our sacrament meeting at 11. It was really cool.
 
Sister Vaughn is going home this week. We got our transfer calls this morning, and my new companion is going to be Sister Summers, who actually was roommates with Sister Vaughn before they both came out on their missions. She sounds pretty cool. Sister Vaughn wants to stay another transfer now, and be in a trio with us, because she has always wanted to serve with Sister Summers. So that’s exciting. I’m sad Sister Vaughn is leaving, but at the same time, it is time to move on.
 
Anyway, our Sunday was great too. We have 6 investigators at church, and one of them we just barely met yesterday, and he got up and bore his testimony! Kind of. As much as someone who doesn’t know how to do it can. But it was really cool.
 
Anyway, I probably better go now. Love you lots. Be strong!
 
Love, Hermana Kelsey
 
XOXOXOXOX
 
P.S. Wasn’t Riley going to write me a letter and send it with that package you sent?!
 
Papi,
 
I learned a new thing in spanish. It is about fathers, so I’ll tell it to you.
 
“Yo como una papa, no como a mi papa (accent on a)
(I eat a potato, I don’t eat my dad)
Una papa es comida, un papa (accent on a) es mi padre”
(A potato is food, a papa is a father)
 
It’s funny in spanish, but not really in english so it’s okay if you don’t laugh or anything. 🙂
 
Anyway, this week has been pretty good. Is it still raining a lot there? That’s crazy that Brad’s house got flooded. Is our house doing okay? I hope so, cause I sure don’t want to move!
 
Anyway, I better go now. Love you lots. Sorry these are so short, but time just doesn’t mean the same thing it used to. Bye.
 
Love, Hermana Kelsey
 
Emmysaurus Rex!
 
JA JA JA JA JA JA!! You have to be in summer school?!?! That’s so funny. I did that too, once upon a time. But it was pretty much the easiest class I ever took, so I didn’t mind.
 
It is really really hot down here. It was been within a few degrees of 100 all week! It’s craziness!!! Muy loco!! Pero, esta bien. (I hope you can understand my spanish) 
 
But anyways, Por que did you corto su pelo?! We were supposed to be having a contest! JK JK, it’s all good. I’m just going to win. 🙂
 
What kind of changes are happening in your life? Are you’re friends still moving away? I will tell you one good things about that. I know it is really hard (trust me, I REALLY do know), but when friends leave, you get to make new ones! It was super, super hard for me at the MTC when the older districts would leave, because we became such good friends with them, but then new people would come and we would be friends with them. So them you have lots and lots of friends. So it’s okay. I’m pretty sure most of the people I met at the MTC will be my life long friends. 🙂
 
BYE. Love you lots.
 
Love, Hermana Kelsey
 
P.S. You are never too busy to write a letter. I am one of the busiest people I know and I can still write letters to people. I’m actually better at writing letters than anyone that I am writing to. 🙂

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Hermana Kelsey 4:2 -email-
Mama,
Hola! Como estas? I hope you are doing well. That’s good you’ve been looking for a job. I have been praying for you and I know that the Lord will bless you. Keep the faith and it’ll all work out!
Thank you so much for the package! I got it the other day, and I was so excited. I won’t be asking for much anymore though. I’m just so thankful for the shampoo! I needed it so bad. Muchas gracias!!
It is HOT here! I will give you some of our sun, if you give us some of your rain. We have been almost out of miles for the last week or so, so we’ve been walking and riding the bus a lot. It has been super hot and humid, so we are miserable the entire time. It is not fun, but I’m getting used to doing it so it’s okay. Yesterday for p-day we played football outside. It was so fun! All the elders think I’m cool because I can actually play a little and throw pretty decent (thanks to dad :)). They chose me to be on their team before even some of the guys. It’s awesome. 
Anyway, we have a baptism this Sunday! This guy A___ who has been meeting with the missionaries for like 2 1/2 years is finally getting baptized. He’s pretty cool. It’s exciting. I feel like I’m finally starting to get used to the work. But I’m a little worried because Sister Vaughn is leaving in a week (ish), and none of the other sisters that could be my companion have ever served in my area. I still don’t know a lot of the people or the way to get around our area very well. I think we are going to get lost a lot. 🙁 But it’ll be okay I guess. Our branch is so great. They are pretty good with fellowshipping and becoming friends with our investigators. It’s sad though because all our people who are really good at it will be leaving soon. We have a really cool member family, but the parents are getting deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan soon; the branch president’s brother and sister, who come on exchanges with us, are leaving to go to Utah and Idaho soon. We aren’t going to have many people to help us. But, it’ll be alright. Esta bien!
That’s crazy that Landon is coming home already! I swear it hasn’t been two years. It’ll seem like that with me I’m sure. 🙂
Hermana Vaughn is still cool. She’s getting a little bit trunky now, but not too bad, and not more than is expected when you are going home in a week.
One of the things we have to do with investigators that have problems with the law of chastity is just wait it out. We can’t really do anything to help them, because most of the time it has something to do with legal or money issues, and we don’t have anything we can use to help them with those. It’s kind of hard to watch, but we just pray for them a lot.
Anyway, I probably better go now. Love you lots. Keep doing good things.
Love, Hermana Kelsey
P.S. I’ll hopefully send some pictures soon. I haven’t printed any for a while (since I left the MTC to be exact), and I haven’t really taken that many, but I’ll try to get some to you.
Papi,
Howdy! How’s it going? I hope things are good. That’s crazy to hear about all the flooding. Hopefully our weather switches soon. We are also having a dry season. We could seriously use some rain. But I guess this is usual in Texas about this time.
In our combined meeting, we talked about keeping the chapel clean (by parents not having their kids drink red punch :)), and being member missionaries. It was a pretty cool meeting. 🙂 Kind of. Anyway, I’m glad you are getting as much yard work and stuff doen as you can. Hopefully, the weather will work for you to be able to do all the things you need to.
Anyway, I better go now. Sorry this is so short, but I’m all out of time. Love you, bye.
Love, Hermana Kelsey
Emmysaurus Rex!
Hola mi hermana! Como estas?! Aren’t you so glad school is out? I sure remember that. Although now I miss school It’s funny how your out look changes depending on where you are in life. Anyway, that’s also exciting you are finally getting your license. It is about dang time! Just kidding. But seriously. 🙂
Please write me a letter!!! Letters are so fun. Anyway, I better go now. Love you my little seester!
Love, Hermana Kelsey
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

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Hermana Kelsey 4:1 -email-

Mama,

Hola! Como esta? I hope you are doing great. That is so cool you went to the Logan temple. One of my goals when I get home is to do a session at every temple in Utah. I think that would be really cool. I heard about the rain that has been going on there. That’s crazy. We are actually in a drought here, but there have been a few good storms. I love the way it rains down here. It literally rains buckets. We get to take a shower in the middle of the day. It’s awesome! Although, we can’t just go back to our apartment and chill when it rains. We still have to do work and stuff. So that’s not so cool.

Jessica S. is getting married?! But she’s so young! Oh well. I guess that’s cool. I guess that works for some people. Who did Rebecca S. get married to? Keep letting me know when people get married. It’s fun to hear. 🙂

Anyway, in the next couple weeks we have a few baptismal dates. This one guy A__ has been investigating the church for like 2 1/2 years, and he is finally getting baptized on June 5th. We have a date for another guy names J___ (for June 12th), and a date for May 29th, with a guy named D___. I have only met him once, but he seems pretty legit. Also, we are trying to set a date with Luis, but he is kind of lazy and won’t come to church because soccer is more important to him. But hopefully D____ will be able to get baptized in May, because we fasted two weeks in a row so that all the companionships in our area could have a baptism in May.

We had a few new investigators at church this week. I was kind of surprised we had as many as we did, but it was cool. This one girl, Y____, came and that was surprising, because she kept telling us she was going to come for like the past 3 weeks, and she still hadn’t. But then she showed up. She also brought her brother, so that was good. He seems pretty cool too. I think she is actually starting to like us. But she also has the problem that most of the people we meet with have. They are either not married at all, or married to two people. It’s kind of ridiculous. Oh well.

I probably better go now. Love you lots. Thank you for your support! 🙂

Love, Hermana Kelsey

Papi,

That’s fun you are going to Bear Lake. We went to B.L.O.R.A. (Belton Lake Outdoor Recreational Area) for a branch activity last weekend. It was pretty fun, except we didn’t get to swim! Just kidding. It was a nice day though. The kids did all these fun activities, and they had a pinata. They sing this song while the kids are hitting the pinata that is in Spanish, and I don’t know it, but it tells the kids when their time is up. It was super cute and fun.

What on earth is Water World? I don’t think I even heard of that.

Anyway, I better go now. Love you!

Love, Hermana Kelsey

Emmysaurus Rex!

I’m sorry you are feeling sick. Hopefully you feel better soon so you can write me a letter. That would be really cool!! Anyway, how’s school? Did you get my last letter? I sent it a while ago, so if you didn’t get it, it probably is lost forever. But that’s okay. It wasn’t that important.

Well I have to go now! Bye!!

Love, Hermana Kelsey (your awesome seester!)