An eventful week

Mi querida familia,

Are you at peace? I like that Dad always says it like that (taken from Dain and Scott, right?). My companion and I were talking about receiving peace from the Holy Ghost this morning. I can't remember the scripture reference, but it's in the Bible: my peace I leave with you, not the peace of the world give I unto you but that of my Father which is in heaven. That was really bad paraphrasing. Anyway, the peace of our Heavenly Father is so different from the "peace" the world has to offer. When we say that we want world peace, it's more wishing that there was no contention but rather toleration. But the peace of God is knowing and feeling His love; knowing that we have purpose and that there's hope and light when we search for it. So yes, I am at peace. :) And I had a sort of breakthrough this week. At times it feels like you're just trudging through quicksand on the mission, just knowing you have so much time left, not really seeing any success or finding anyone who's interested, wondering if you're making any kind of difference. But this week things seemed different and I'm grateful to my Heavenly Father for filling me with peace and with light. Light--that's another thing that's been on my mind a lot lately. And I love that Jesus Christ is the light of the world, the Prince of Peace.

On Wednesday I believe (or maybe it was Tuesday), my ward mission leader called and said that he worked it out with the bishop to have every second Sunday of the month dedicated to missionary work in sacrament meeting. He then proceeded to ask me if I would kick it off and speak on Sunday about member missionary work. I'd actually been thinking a bit lately about how we can be better member missionaries and loved being able to speak in sacrament meeting about it. I'm glad they asked me to speak in Stockton and now here in Manteca! So I spoke about how the purpose of everything we do is based on the fact that we have a Savior. Without a Savior, there would be no point to this life; there would be no reason to have faith, repent and strive to become better. And we learn more about the Savior by trying to live like Him, by sharing the good news with everyone. President Howard W. Hunter said that our conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ is measured by our desire to share it with others. Not to say that everyone has to go on a mission if they have a testimony, but I'm grateful that my conversion to the gospel impelled me to take this step and have this experience in my life.

Elder L. Tom Perry visited our mission this week! Well, we actually left the mission and joined up with Roseville to see him. It was great! And Elder Maynes of the Presidency of the Seventy spoke too about how we need to spend our time finding those who are "searchers" rather than using a lot of time trying to convince people that the gospel is true. We noticed that we've been spending a little time with a few people trying to convince them and have resolved to find those who are searching. We knocked on the door of a woman this week who seems to be a searcher. It was a miracle. We chose a few streets a few weeks ago to tract and hadn't been in the area or able to knock doors there. On Saturday we went to one of the streets for about an hour and found a guy who speaks English that seemed really solid. We tried the next street and knocked on one door and found El who had just been talking to her friend about God. Those two women need a lot of love, especially El, and she was excited to have the Book of Mormon. She went to hand it back to me after we read from Alma 7:11-12 about the atonement of Jesus Christ and I said, "No, you can keep it. It's yours." She said really? Because I kept reading it and wanted to read more. It was amazing. We invited her to the Relief Society Anniversary dinner this Saturday at the church and she said she'd be there!

The almond blossoms are amazing in Manteca! Did I mention that Manteca is like a farm town? It's a little town with cows and fields and grapevines and almond trees and lots of orchards. It's beautiful and the sunsets are amazing and I don't want to leave this area! After I spoke on Sunday Hermana J (her husband is Raul) said that after missionaries speak in church they leave soon after--we both frowned and I said that she can't say that because it's not going to happen. I love the members here, I love the investigators, I love everything about Manteca and am sad just thinking about leaving. :( I have a guaranteed 3 weeks!

We "heart attacked" the door of an investigator Saturday night--she's taking her citizenship test today and we wanted to wish her luck. We got all the hearts cut out and put tape on the back and taped it to our skirt as we waddled our way up to the door to attack it. They opened the door as we were standing there so we took off running. We went around the block and returned to see if we could retrieve some hearts that flew away but they came outside. Embarrassing. That was an epic fail. She called us because she knew it was us and she was worried they didn't hear us knock on the door before we ran, yes, ran away. So much for that surprise!

Love you all,

(Oh this is part of President's weekly email.)

What a great week we have had!  It was such a blessing to sit at the feet of Elder L. Tom Perry, member of the Quorum of the Twelve and Elder Richard J. Maynes, member of the Presidency of the Seventy.  They taught us to focus our time on finding those searching for truth, the importance of working closely with the ward council and having a good relationship with the High Counselor assigned to train the ward council.  Elder Perry explained that the Church is lead by the Lord through a living prophet.  He told us that this is a very fortunate time to share the gospel because the Church is in the spotlight.  We are all blessed at this time to be in full-time service as disciples of Jesus Christ and to be called to declare His word among His people that they might have everlasting life.  Zone Leaders will be following-up with you in training this week to discuss how we can apply what we were taught on Thursday.

 “In a world ever more dangerous…the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ has the nourishing power to heal starving spirits of the world.” ( President Boyd K. Packer quoted in PMG page 108)

Okay love you,

kates

Fast Weight Loss

Familia!

Promise I'm not advertising any sort of weight-loss plan. In fact, I would never want this to happen to anyone. We had dinner with... someone... this week and got terribly sick and were up all night and in bed (except for at the toilet) the next day. It was a disaster! We had food poisoning I guess and were vomiting a lot. I kept thinking about how lazy I felt being in bed but then the thought came into my head, "Sweetheart. This is Heavenly Father telling you it's okay to take a rest." Somehow we managed to make it to church the next day. It was funny to me that the first thing my district leader asked was who we had at church. Ah well--I don't think he realized how much we were dying and still weak from the previous day's happenings. But we're better now! I've been eating jello and toast and we each had a taco today. Oh, I had a donut last night on our member missionary exchanges.

President Lewis is back in the mission! He was gone for 28 days in the hospitals in Sacramento and Salt Lake (2 surgeries). He wrote this, which I really appreciated. Elder Orson F. Whitney wrote: “No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted.  It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude, and humility…. It is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation that we gain the education that we come here to acquire.”  While some experiences in life are not pleasant to endure, they are a part of our Heavenly Father’s  great plan of happiness.

On Thursday we're going to an inter-mission conference in the Roseville Mission to see Elder L. Tom Perry and Elder (President?) Maynes from the Presidency of the First Quorum of the Seventy--that is, if we can find a ride! We're at the very southern end of our mission and the Roseville Mission is north of our mission, so hopefully someone will be very generous and be willing to take us.

We have a promising investigator right now. I may have told you about her last week. Her name is E and she heard about the Church from her friend at work who is a recent convert in the English ward. She's been to church twice but not to our ward! But we've been the ones teaching her because she understands Spanish better. I think I have told you about her. Well she is a little dream come true and already believes and follows a lot of the things we do. The only thing that could be a deterrent is that her work schedule is so crazy and doesn't permit us to visit her as much as we would like! And she can't always go to church on Sunday because she gets off work at 3:30 in the morning. I wish the adversary weren't so good with what he does.

I'm grateful to be here. I'm grateful for everything I've learned thus far. I'm grateful for the people I've met. I'm grateful for the eternal friendships I've made. I'm grateful for the struggles, the hard times, and for all your support and prayers. 

Love you all dearly.

And happy birthday to my very special mother. I love you so much. Thank you for everything, momma.

Love,

kates

Surprises

Hola familia,

We had a surprise baptism this past week! We dropped our investigator, A, a few weeks ago because he was going in circles with his questions and just kept having more questions and ultimately had to resolve them on his own because we had taught everything and emphasized reading and praying about the Book of Mormon just about every time we met with him. On Wednesday, he texted us and said he was ready for the interview, so we rushed over to the church building, had the interview, and started planning a Saturday baptism. It was great!! My friend A from Peru is now a member of the Church. :)

Sister Mason (the other companionship in Manteca) is training a sister from Peru, Hermana Estrada! Have I told you we have members from all over Central and South America? Peru, Guatemala, El Salvador, Domincan Republic, Argentina, Mexico... I love it. Hermana Estrada is learning English so it's been quite the reversal--we're used to people coming here knowing just a little Spanish.

I forgot to mention last week that President Martinez took our zone out to lunch because we surpassed the number of monthly baptisms in the Manteca Zone in January. The zone leaders texted everyone asking for lunch ideas and all I could think about was Red Robin because we passed it once and it's been so long since I've been there. Well, obviously I was just throwing my idea out there and knew it probably wouldn't be chosen over Chipotle or a tacqueria or something, but since we had the most baptisms (6 out of the 13), my idea was chosen. Oh no! So we went to Red Robin and it was so expensive but ohh so good--I felt bad! Oops.

We have a couple of progressing investigators right now but are having luck with only one coming to church! The one who is coming to church was introduced to the church through a friend at work who was just baptized last year--those are the best missionaries. Our investigator is E and she is so sincere and wants to know that these things are true--I love it when we assign a passage in the Book of Mormon and they read what we've left and beyond. Hopefully we'll see her baptized in March! That's about it on the investigator updates, though.

My recent convert R blessed the sacrament on Sunday and gave the talk on the Holy Ghost in the baptism on Saturday. That was really exciting!

I love you all,

kates

I hit my nine months on Saturday! My nine-month birthday present was a baptism--not bad. :)

Transfer numero 6

Buenas tardes querida familia,

Highlights of the week:

1. We had a really powerful lesson with our investigator A! We were going to teach a certain lesson and then she asked some things about the Plan of Salvation, which we had talked about last week. While explaining about the Spirit World and the missionary work that goes on there, I took out a picture of the Salt Lake temple and mentioned the covenant of baptism. She told us she'd been baptized before without really knowing it, or even choosing to be baptized, and was kind of bitter about it and leery about the prospect of baptism. We read from 3 Nephi 27 together about the gospel of Jesus Christ and talked about the importance of faith, repentance, and baptism. The Spirit was really strong during the lesson as you could tell that she was really starting to understand the Book of Mormon and what it says about following the example of Jesus Christ and being baptized.

During the lesson, she lifted up her hand to look at it and said, "My hand is trembling. I don't know why I feel like this!" So I asked her what she felt like and she said that she was hot, then cold--she couldn't really decide. I asked her if it was a good feeling, something that she couldn't describe and she said yes. We told her that was the Spirit testifying that the things we were saying were true. The lesson was amazing--and I love how the Spirit works and you go into a lesson with a plan in mind and then are directed to change it according to the investigators' needs in that moment. At the end of the lesson we asked A to pray (last week she didn't want to pray at the end because she didn't feel a need to do so), but this time she did and started crying during her prayer. She was going to go to church with us on Sunday but had to work out a few things with her family in San Jose but promised us (and God!) that she would come with us next week. She really wants to know that these things are true and will hopefully put in the effort to receive her answers!

2. We did service at the food bank! Last Tuesday (Happy Valentine's Day!) we went to... well, first we went to Taco Bell (I'm obsessed with Taco Bell--for some reason I want it every day) for lunch because it was Sister Solomon's birthday (she's an English sister)... and then we went to the food bank and helped them organize food into bags and sacks for a few hours. It's funny because every day for us is service but we don't really realize/feel like it is because it's not like a set service project. At least this is a service that everyone at the food bank appreciated. :) Not everyone appreciates it when we show up on their doorstep. We had a man yesterday tell us that we came at the most inopportune time, and then he closed the door on us. That's pretty typical!

3. My zone leader let me borrow his DVD of Mormon Messages and I've been using it a lot during lessons/times when we just drop by someone's house, and it's been wonderful! The Mormon Messages are segments of apostles' talks along with a little video that you can watch, and it really invites the Spirit into peoples' homes. We went to a member's home last week and there was a nonmember there, so we put on the video "My New Life" with the story of the plane crash survivors and the woman we met said that she could relate to that video in a lot of ways. We had a good discussion about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how he has felt all our pains and understands our sufferings. She felt a lot of comfort during the lesson--hopefully the missionaries in Sacramento where she lives will be able to follow up with her soon!

4. We went to a missionary farewell open house on Saturday. Two families are sending their sons on missionaries within the next week or two--first missionaries in the family! They're going to Anaheim and Los Angeles. I'm looking forward to hearing them speak in sacrament meeting on Sunday. One of them is R (our recent convert's) son. By the way, R passed the sacrament on Sunday! I was grinning from ear to ear when I saw him at the sacrament table. That was a really neat experience. Our other recent converts (V and son V) were called as Scout Master and Scout Assistant. They haven't been involved in scouting and are a little nervous about the calling (especially because they feel like they're up against the scout leaders in the English ward who have more experience with this type of thing!) but are excited to learn. They'll do great.

5. Mosiah chapters 2, 3, and 4 are amazing. I read Mosiah 3 yesterday in personal study and again today because I loved it so much. It talks about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how we need to become like children to receive salvation. Mosiah 4 talks about looking out for our brothers and giving because like it says, "Are we not all beggars?" Do we not all depend on Heavenly Father for the things we have and for forgiveness of our sins? We need to look to others and give of what we have--which is not even our own but God's.

Love you all!!

Love,

kates

Crazy Dreams

Mi familia linda,

I wrote crazy dreams because for some reasons, I have been having some wild dreams lately. At the beginning of my mission I felt strange because people would talk about mission dreams they'd had (like teaching, contacting, whatever) and I would just have random dreams having absolutely nothing to do with the mission. Now I have dreams where all I'm doing is breaking mission rules. It's not as bad as it sounds. In fact, last night I was talking to Scott* on the phone for hours and hours and just laughing away (I can't remember what we were talking about, Scott, but we were having party over the phone). And then I realized, wait a sec. I'm a missionary. I can't be talking to you--and I think I tried hanging up. You know, it's amazing that they trust us with phones on our missions--we call and text all the time but it's never a temptation to call home.

We don't have a lot of investigators (and zero are really progressing), which is really disappointing. I'm sure there are so many things we could be doing to find new people to teach but I don't know how. I know there are people here who are prepared to hear the gospel and I want to find them so badly but I just don't know what more we can be doing. So for the time being, we're in a slump but I'm still optimistic about it. I've noticed a big change in how I react to situations and I'm trying not to stress so much, but we all know it's the Lord's work and I don't want to disappoint Him! Unfortunately we had to drop our investigator who had a baptismal date. I don't feel like he's truly converted and he doesn't have a testimony that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith is a prophet. The absolutely last thing I'd want to do is baptize someone who wasn't converted and would soon fall away. It's sad having to let go of someone you care about because they're not progressing in the gospel, but I know the Lord will prepare his heart to receive the message again and to accept it. Oh agency. I always tell people that 'la vida es una lucha.' It's a battlefield! Satan is doing a good job, but we'll do better.

We've been getting artsy and thoughtful this week--it's been fun. We've been heart-attacking people's doors (cutting out hearts from construction paper and taping it all over the door). We did it for a member who had a birthday this past week and for another member whose son is leaving on a mission soon. The neat thing about being in a Spanish ward is that most of the members are converts--they're still learning and their children will be the first ones to serve a mission. Not only do we teach investigators but we work hard to keep the recent converts active and participating but also strengthen the members' testimonies and remind them of why they were baptized.

I love you all!! Thanks for the cards and pictures and packages and love.

love,

kates

*Scott is Katy's and my brother. :)

Really Week 5?

Querida Familia,

Hello beautiful people. I can't believe another week has gone by and that we're already in week 5 of this transfer. Sister Beale and I have a guaranteed additional transfer together, so I know I'll be in blessed Manteca for at least another two months.

This week in district meeting we had "Faith Factor," which the zone leaders made to mimic Fear Factor. Last week they had us write our fears on a piece of paper and submit them and the following week they made this Faith Factor, where we had to strive to overcome our fears from the mission. They set it up where some missionaries had to put their hand into this box with a tarantula and teach an 'investigator'--a member from the English ward--a message about the Restoration or the Plan of Salvation. The tarantula was actually blocked off from their hand, but we didn't know that. Others had to call random people in the phone book and have a conversation with them (on speakerphone) about the church or beliefs or baptism--anything. One of the English sisters reached a Hispanic woman and she did her best to tell her the name of the Church in Spanish. I was so proud. Another group of missionaries had to "contact" people (in the meantime, the zone leaders took goldfish out of water so the missionaries were racing against the clock) and if they found the person matched to them who was interested in hearing their message, they could rescue the goldfish and put them back in the water. So there were a lot of activities like that--mine was I had to touch a mouse trap and pull my hand away really quickly. The mouse trap was supposed to represent a doorbell. What I didn't know is that they didn't actually set the trap, but they got me on camera saying, "Really? Would Y'ALL touch that trap??"

We met and taught a beautiful woman this morning named E. She came to church last week with a co-worker--he was recently baptized in the English ward, but she speaks Spanish so we'll take it! We went into her apartment and she immediately started to tell us that she had questions about the Book of Mormon (the elders gave it to her last week at church when we were in Sacramento for Gladys Knight). She then went on to say that she was raised Catholic and had attended a Christian church and was still looking for something and had a very open heart to the things that we were going to teach. She is so prepared and was saying all the right things--wow. I'm really excited to teach her. I love it when we find people who are just so genuine, open and prepared to listen to our message. I know it's something new--learning about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith and everything, but we have the promise from the scriptures that if we have a sincere heart, real intent to learn and to act, and have faith in Jesus Christ, we will know for ourselves through the power of the Holy Ghost the truth of all things.

Last night we went on a ward missionary exchange from a companionship of English elders who serve in Tracy. I went with a couple in the ward to visit a family (the wife is active and the husband is less active). They volunteer for a search and rescue team where they use dogs as part of the search process. The wife is a nurse. Our focus was to go and invite them to think of people they could share the gospel with. I read Mosiah 28:3 where it talks about the sons of Mosiah not being able to stand seeing people around them perishing (without the word of God). I related that to their desire to help people physically--that they could do something even greater and bless people spiritually by being member missionaries. I really appreciated after the lesson when the couple told me in the car that I was on my mission for the right reason. I'm trying my best and love following the Spirit and being able to teach people according to what Heavenly Father would have them know. I am grateful for this gospel and for this short time I have to share it.

I love all of you. Thank you for your examples to me.

kates

Gladys Knight and another very special guest

Family,

I don't have a lot of time to write, but I do have exciting news from this past week!

We worked at the Gladys Knight 'firesides' Friday (Stockton), Saturday (Sacramento) and Sunday (Sacramento) nights, which was incredible! Gladys put together a choir, called the Saints Unified Voices and they go all over the country putting on these firesides. Gladys and her husband William McDowell share their testimonies and there's other speaking parts and then she directs the choir to gospel music. I'll have the song "We sing glory. We sing glorrry. We sing glory. We sing glory unto God" song stuck in my head all week. It was really fun. There was a lot of "amens" and clapping and cheering. We had a really good time and got 777 referrals for the mission--that's about 3 years' worth of referrals. Now we have to visit all those people within 48 days!

The other exciting thing is that each missionary in our mission got to meet an apostle who came for a special mission conference (last minute) on Thursday. He probably came to talk about the organization of the mission president because President Lewis is sick. Have I mentioned that? Yes, President Lewis has had two surgeries since Christmas and is very ill and is now in Salt Lake. I think he was released from the hospital last week and is now at home in Salt Lake, so our first counselor, President Weston, is the acting mission president for us. We've been fasting and praying for President Lewis a lot within the past month.

So the apostle who came was Elder Holland. It was amazing. He shook each of our hands and asked where we were from. When he asked where I'm from, he responded "Well hello Arlington." :) He told us that he interviewed each of us when he shook our hands. He looked into each of our eyes and told us that he is very impressed with our mission. He said that he's grateful for people in the Church who know what they need to do and do it. It was incredible because Sister Fernandez is in love with Elder Holland and she was asked to say the opening prayer. She prayed that we would have more urgency in the work, and he said that was the first time he'd ever heard a missionary pray for urgency. He mentioned Sister Fernandez about 6 times while speaking to us, and she was absolutely elated. I thought that it was interesting that he said: too much of my youth I spent in athletics. I should go back and repent. I should've been studying my scriptures. I thought that was really interesting. I think it's so true--I wish I would have studied my scriptures more in high school. Obviously--I'm a missionary now. :) He promised we would have a lot of success over the next few months as a mission and missionaries far down the line will talk about this time in the Sacramento Mission. It was wonderful.

Love you,

kates

A week to remember

Hola querida familia,

This week was amazing! Alright, so we didn't do so hot on our weekly goals in contacting people and inviting them to be baptized. The number of lessons taught wasn't stellar either. The standard of excellence as a mission is to extend at least six baptismal invites a day; we failed that big time. But, we were successful on actual baptisms!

The Ca family was baptized! We baptized six truly converted people, and it was a beautiful thing. One son was not baptized because he's not quite ready, but he will be ready soon! The baptism was definitely a highlight of this transfer.

On Wednesday night we had a lesson with the family. We talked about this and that and we wanted to focus the lesson on service in the church. We went with a member of the ward, Hermano V (the member support in this ward is unheard of), and by the end of the lesson, I shared Mosiah 18:8-10 about our baptismal covenant--about how we covenant to bear one another's burdens, mourn with those that mourn, and stand as a witness at all times and in all things and in all places. We talked about a baptismal date with Pa and Vi (the parents) and they said Saturday would not work. The next weekend wouldn't work either. The thought popped into my mind, "Will they even be there on Sunday to be confirmed if we have a baptism tomorrow (Thursday) or Friday or Saturday?" So naturally I asked them and they said, "Sunday could work." Wait a sec... I wasn't referring to the baptism, but we'll take it! So Sunday it was.

I called the whole world between Thursday and Saturday. The first counselor from the Mission Presidency, President Martinez, came to the baptism. (He and his wife had gone to a lesson with them at their house.) A counselor in the Oakland Temple Presidency, President Lopez, came to the baptism. (He and his wife went to an FHE with them at Hermano Velasco's home.) The stake president, President Crockett, and his family came. LDS neighbors of the Ca came. The whole ward was there basically. It was well attended, to say the least, and very powerful. The missionary who wrote Pa's name on the potential investigators sheet last April is back in Manteca, so she was at the baptism. Sister Betancourt who finished her mission in December flew back, and Sister Fernandez traveled back from East Sac. Seeing each of the family members baptized was so amazing--when Pa came out of the water, you could feel the power of that sacred ordinance. You could see and feel the burden that was lifted from her. I almost cried when Vi came out of the water. I did the missionary moment and passed out blank notecards so everyone in attendance could write down their testimonies for the family. They were confirmed that night by Hermano Lopez of the temple presidency, and I was so touched when he blessed the boys and talked about preparing for their missions. The family shared their testimonies at the end, and I was overwhelmed with gratitude for their perseverance in seeking an answer. I have no doubt that they are truly converted.

One of our investigators, A, was there for the baptism. I invited him to be baptized February 4. I think he's very close--we've taught him about the Book of Mormon probably the past 10 times we've taught him, so it's time to try something else! (He's been meeting with missionaries since last June.) He said he was trying to write down his feelings on the notecard to give the family but he couldn't express his feelings, which was clearly the Spirit. I am so grateful he came and recognized the Spirit. There's something impeding him right now from taking the next step toward baptism, but I have faith that we can pinpoint it soon. He wants an elder from last summer to baptize him and that elder goes home at the end of this transfer, so that's good timing!

We have been asked to be 'traveling missionaries' for each of the Gladys Knight performances this week. There are going to be performances Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings, so we've been asked to block off time Thursday night for training and Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights from 1 p.m. to the end of the night. This week is going to be crazy busy and not a lot of time to teach and find new investigators, but what a great opportunity to work at each of the performances!! I think they asked all of the sisters in the mission (maybe) to work at each performance and a few of the elders. I'm really excited to do that--they're going to be long nights.

Love you all,

Kates

Buenas Noches, Mi Madre

Hola familia,

My new companion is Hermana Beale from Chicago, Illinois. She is 23 years old and graduated from BYU in English last April. She took some Spanish classes in high school and three Spanish classes in college (you have to take another language as an English major), so she has a good start with the Spanish. It's been interesting being the one in the companionship who understands Spanish, and I understand exactly how she feels because I was just there 5 months ago. Also, it's been interesting pretending I understand everything, staying calm, and acting like I know exactly what I'm doing. :) If only she knew. She's really quiet and doesn't interact a lot with people, so I'm going to be the cheerleader trainer! She's very easygoing, though, and ready to work.

I'm thinking, if I'm supposed to take the lead, I'm the one in charge of making progress in this area, of bringing new people to church, of baptizing. Yikes! The good news is that I think the Ca family will be baptized this Saturday (keep your fingers crossed! More like say a few prayers.) In our lesson Friday night I asked them if they'd chosen a date yet to be baptized and E (who's 11), spilled the beans that it was January 21. They haven't officially told us yet and don't want to let us know until about 4 days before the baptism because they don't want a huge event. The whole ward is keenly aware of them (family of 7), so I don't know how big or small the baptism is going to be. I just can't wait to see 7 consecutive baptisms! I hope I have good news to report next week. :)

Gladys Knight is coming to Stockton January 27 and we get to go. The program is intended for investigators and less actives. You can't attend if you don't bring friends who are not members. This program (we've been told that it is not a concert or an event) is kind of a big deal and brought much success to the Houston Mission. I'm wondering if it was actually the Houston South Mission where my MTC companion is serving. Anyway, that mission had a slew of baptisms as a result, so that's a big focus right now with us. It's going to take place in the Stockton Stake Conference. Gladys Knight has been a member since 1997 I believe and she'll sing and they'll share testimonies and I've heard it's very powerful.

Last week we had a meeting for the Gladys Knight program, and this week I will go to a leadership training and we have Spanish Conference. I feel like there's limited time to actually work. That and we have required two hours of companionship study each day, so that makes 1 hour personal study, 2 hours comp study, 1 hour language study, 1 hour for lunch... every day.

The really neat thing is that ward members are so willing to go out with us. I have to get over the fact that I feel like I'm taking away all their time. :) Oh, so here's a story. I called someone for a ride to the mission office (1.5 hours away) and we ended up deciding that she could pick us up at noon after our meeting for new trainers. I called another girl in the English ward to see if she could take us in the morning and she said that this sister who could pick us up at noon had actually been talking to her mom about going with her and making a play day in Sacramento while they were waiting for us. This story is really long and confusing to write but basically I thought the two women were coordinating with each other but they didn't and both of them showed up to pick us up at noon. Yikes! I felt awful. But some elders in Lodi and Galt needed a ride home because theirs fell though and it all worked out. That was a rocky start for my new companion, but we saw a miracle come from it.

I'm out of time. I love you all. 

Love,

kates

Not really sure how to react...

Hello beautiful family,

Well, I'm not really sure how to share this. Some pack blue- and pink-wrapped kisses in a box for Christmas, but I don't really have time to come up with a creative way to say that... I'm pregnant. Before you all freak out, remember that there are weird mission terms that I still don't like using, like pregnancy and dying at the end of the mission. **(Pregnant - she is going to train another missionary, being a Mom - means you've trained someone, like a child and dying at the end of a mission - means you're leaving the mission field and going home).

We got transfer calls last night. I had a few thoughts about what could happen but in the end decided that I didn't want to guess because anything could happen really. For one thing, there's a new sister coming tomorrow, we already have a trio of Spanish sisters, they were thinking about opening a new area--a little this and a little that make it hard to guess what's going to happen. Plus, the Lord works in mysterious ways. In the end I decided that Sister Ashton, who's 3 transfers older than me, would be coming to Manteca (and be the coordinating sister) and that Manteca would be split between two sets of sisters because this is such a happenin' place. I was right about the Manteca-split part, wrong about Sister Ashton (whose Spanish rocks and would just really help a sister--me--out). I wrote to President Lewis two weeks ago about how my Spanish is not where I'd want it to be. I know you're all thinking, yeah, yeah, this is Katy we're talking about; she's fine. False. It turns out that Sister Fernandez will continue to be the coordinating (now called 'exchange' sister) in East Sacramento and that we will have an exchange sister here in Manteca who will go with Stockton and Manteca sisters. No, I am not the exchange sister--I thank my lucky stars for that.

But I'm a trainer.

Yikes. Can we all stop and say a prayer right now? When the assistant called last night, he told us that our area was going to be split and then he said that I will be training a new sister. My first reaction was to laugh. I apologized to the AP for laughing (it was for a brief moment)--he was my first zone leader, so he'd understand. And I accepted the assignment and didn't ask any questions. I have to be in Fair Oaks (I'm in the very south and that's in the very north of the mission) tomorrow at 8 am until noon. I am hoping and praying that my companion speaks Spanish. :) If not, it's okay. I read in a talk *** this morning about 'looking up.' I knew that's the talk I needed to read--about the Seventy who was in an elevator looking down at the floor, overwhelmed with his calling when President Monson came into the elevator and told him that it's better to look up. In the talk he says that most of the worries we have are not of eternal significance, so don't stress out about it. That made me chuckle. This has everything to do with eternity. And then he said that if it does have something to do with eternal significance, the Lord will strengthen you.

Now more than ever I am grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Elder Holland has said that there will be times that we will experience our own Gethsemanes. I have been there recently, and I know there will be more to come, but at this point I am happy and hopeful for the future and trust the Lord with the decision he's made to make me a trainer in my 5th transfer. I feel so unqualified, but this is the Lord's work. I know that he will shape my back and give me the strength I need to bear the load I will soon be carrying.

I am grateful for missionary work. I am grateful for the miracles I have seen and will continue to see. Now more than ever I will focus on being exactly obedient so that I can be worthy to receive blessings. What a humbling experience. The gift of tongues is sounding better and better every second!

As for the week... Elder Piper from the Seventy came to Stake Conference--his talk was excellent and just perfect for the two families we had at conference. The Ca family said they have chosen a date to be baptized (we challenged them to set a goal to work towards), but they won't tell us the day! It's going to be a spontaneous baptism (7 baptisms) I suppose. We are teaching a family with 5 boys (one died of Leukemia). After teaching them twice last week, they came to Stake Conference. They are very humble and open and love what they're hearing and feeling. I am grateful for the Spirit and for the truthfulness of the gospel. I am grateful for a knowledge of prophets and that we have a prophet on the earth today who helps us prepare and be worthy for the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ. I am grateful for temple work and that we can be sealed as families for eternity. How special it was for me to hear O(whose son died) pray and thank Heavenly Father for answering her prayers and giving her peace and comfort in her heart. That was a very tender moment for me. I know the Plan of Salvation is real. My testimony sinks deeper and deeper every time I learn about it and teach it.

All my love,

Kates

**Missionary Terms Defined :)

*** It is Better to Look Up - Carl B. Cook

Always Love

Hi precious people,

It was a beautiful thing talking to you last week. Thanks for updating me on everything and making me feel loved! Thank you for the presents and for the notes and Christmas cards--oh my goodness, I never thought I'd love looking at Christmas cards so much. I love seeing how everyone looks and how the little ones have grown.

We had another baptism on Friday night! Ra from Peru was baptized and then confirmed yesterday during sacrament meeting by his son who's waiting for his mission call. It was so neat sitting on the stand (piano) and watching Ra's face as he returned to his seat after receiving the Holy Ghost. He was trying to suppress the grin on his face, but I can always tell what that smirk means. He is so neat, and I feel like he's one of the people I am here for. He was a nurse for 25 years, as I learned during his baptism, which sparked my interest even more. :) The families in this ward are so amazing--they are so strong and are excellent fellowshippers. There's a focused effort on the Ca family and the ward has come together and are always asking about them and inviting them to do things and wanting to come to lessons. We feel that the Ca family is really close--we could have at least 7 baptisms in January. That would be a miracle.

Oh dear, I wish I could remember all the questions I was supposed to answer. I started reading the Book of Mormon over again--I don't know how I missed everything last time I read, but I'm learning so much more. Missionary work is interesting like that--once you hear all the questions and have a desire to answer everything having to do with the restoration and the Book of Mormon, you start to read with those investigators in mind. I'm grateful that the book is like that--that you can learn bit by bit each time and I can feel my testimony take root even more.

This week was a lot better, being the holidays and everything. :) Transfers are next week, so we'll so how that goes. Don't worry about me--I'm doing great! I have a wonderful mission president who always shows so much charity and love and actually reads our weekly letters and my zone is great, the sisters I live with are angels, and our investigators are a blessing. 

I don't think I've mentioned the wicked fog that's here in the mornings. It's the coolest thing. I can't believe how thick it gets.

Love you all,

kates 

2012 End of the World?

Good thing I'll be sharing the gospel in 2012. I just realized the next time I talk to you will be next year.

Dear Family,

You'll have to forgive me because I don't know how much I'll be able to write. I'm at a member's house right now since the library is closed and am typing on an iPad. I don't know how you do it, Mom; I'm impressed. I just wrote my President's letter so I'm almost out of two-finger-typing steam.

Not much has happened since yesterday. Sister Fernandez is leaving to go on exchanges tonight so I have to find companions for tonight and tomorrow still. Yippee. I got a boatload of Christmas cards yesterday from my trainer Sister Carlos who went home at the beginning of December, my MTC companion Sister Worthen, Malinda, Jordan, Stacy, and Tracy! Everyone looks so great! I'd have to say my favorite Christmas card was from... No, I'm not going to tell you that. They're all beautiful and will soon be on my wall.

After I talked with you last night I put on my new pajama pants, my new mission t-shirt and my ladybug slippers from Lisa Van Gemert and put on some tunes Melissa sent and wrote some letters... While eating my Puerto Rican Taco Bell cinnamon tostadas. :) 

We've had 62 baptisms as a mission this month and have one week to reach our goal of 101! We have R lined up to be baptized on Friday if everything goes according to plan and hopefully the Ca family will be ready by Saturday. That would be a miracle!! A new year's eve miracle.

I love you all. My back is aching from using this iPad. I must be turning 25 soon or something. Next to go is the eyesight. :)

Love forever and for always,

Kates

Merry Christmas!

Mi hermosa familia,

We've been teaching an eternal investigator (his wife has been a member for 8 years) and I had the strong feeling last week that we were going to have 9 baptisms this month. We have one firm to be baptized this Thursday (S--he's 22 and is married to a member) and I talked to R (the eternal) after Sacrament and asked him when he was going to be baptized this week. He smiled and said he doesn't think it will be this week but next week, maybe. I saw it as a good sign with that smirk on his face. Sister Fernandez talked to him after church and he is firm for December 31! I'm really glad I talked to him right after sacrament meeting--the speakers from the stake were phenomenal; they talked about obedience and sharing the gospel and it was just perfect for so many of our investigators. I think we had only 10 investigators to church this week. Only 10. :)

We're still praying for the Ca family to be baptized this month!! They're going out of town on the 23rd and will be gone until Christmas. They're the family of 7 that we were hoping to baptize on Christmas Eve. The opposition is coming but we still have faith that they will be baptized. Sacrament, like I mentioned, was absolutely perfect, but gospel principles and Relief Society/Priesthood were very deep about the Millennium and exaltation. I kept thinking the whole time that Heavenly Father has a plan and that we can't lose faith--I love these topics; they're a little deep and confusing for investigators but I know everything will work out how it should.

We had our ward Christmas party on Friday and it was extremely fun. I played the piano for the program--different programs like the Young Women, Priesthood, a family kept giving me different songs to play at the last minute. I guess they think I'm one of "those" piano players. Well, it turned out fine and there was even a pinata at the end of the night filled with my favorite candy--Mexican candy with chile, of course! I crave that stuff like crazy nowadays. I even stole a little kid's mango gummy pop with chile. It made me smile because we've been having Christmas pinatas the past few years. :) Right? Yeah, I'm pretty sure. The party was very well attended and so beautiful. This ward is amazing. It's actually made up of two cities, Tracy and Manteca. The elders (1 companionship) cover Tracy and we cover Manteca. The leadership in this ward is crazy ridiculous. They support us so well and always have someone ready to go to lessons with us. Everyone loves the Ca family and all of our investigators. It really is just one big family. It's great. They expect and require a lot from us but Sister Fernandez is a champ and we get along and are making a lot of progress.

Stacy wants to know more intimate details about my life. Well, last week was REALLY hard. It was my hardest week on the mission. Sister Fernandez expects a lot and I'm getting frustrated about my Spanish because hers is so beautiful and she teaches and explains so well that all I could do was get frustrated because I didn't feel like I could contribute anything more. I've been able to open my mouth a lot more. Oh, part of her responsibility as coordinating sister is that she has to visit each of the Spanish companionships plus one English companionship in the mission during a transfer. So she leaves me at night and for a day and so I have to find 4 companions to go out with me while she's gone on exchanges with the other sisters. Last week she was gone twice (Monday day and Tuesday day and Thursday night and Friday day). I go out with English sisters and Spanish sisters so I have to rule the lesson and know what I'm saying and control the phone and our plans. It's stressful but I'm hanging in there.

I love you all! I have no time but I will talk to you next week. Drink hot cocoa and look at Christmas lights for me. 

Hermana Brinkerina

new nickname from the zone

Wonderful Happens

Querida familia,

I lived with the sign language sisters for a few months and picked up a few signs here and there. The sign for 'miracle' is 'wonderful happens.' We've been praying since October for wonderful to happen this month, and we have seen miracles.

The C family went to Stockton to see Elder Bednar speak at their stake conference. I missed Elder Bednar by just two weeks! They haven't accepted a baptismal date yet but I know they'll get there! It would be a beautiful blessing to have a family of 7 be baptized this Christmas.

We have one baptism set for December 22 for a boy (he's 22) whose name is Sa. His wife is a member and they're expecting a baby in February. I'm so happy that they'll have the priesthood in the home--they're such a humble family but his wife Su makes us the absolutely best warm apple cider (with all sorts of things in it) with little treats every time we come over. I love it.

We taught about 26 lessons this week, which is out of this world. My companion is the energizer bunny, and my rechargeable battery doesn't charge as fast as hers. I'm trying to keep up! We've been able to accomplish a lot of our goals, and I feel like this letter is just really empty--sorry about that.

We're waiting to hear from Ra whose wife is also a member if he wants to be baptized this month. He has two sons going on missions within the next few years and it would be wonderful for them to see their dad baptized before they leave.

The temple day we had last week was GREAT! We had a Christmas program before we went to the temple--complete with readers and hymns. I was the chorister so I got to lead all the Christmas songs--nothing better than that. The temple is beautiful and I felt a great spirit there. I'm grateful for the blessings of the temple and for missionary work so that other families can experience the joy within.

Sorry I didn't have loads of time to write--my president's letter was a novel but the good thing is that it actually sent this week. Love you all!! Merry Christmas. I'll talk to you on the phone in a few weeks. :) Come up with some good brain busters for me.


Love,

Hermana Brinkerhoff

Miracles

Familia,

Yes, I'm still playing the piano, so your dream has come true, Mom. The sister I replaced (who just finished her mission and returned home to Oak Cliff) played the piano. Wee.

This ward is AMAZING! It's the Monte Vista ward. Already we've gone out with several sisters to lessons. I think I met 5 sisters these past 5 days simply from teaching. Sister Fernandez is rockin' the member present lessons. We had 12 investigators to church yesterday, and sacrament meeting was wonderful. We ended a little late because so many people got up to bear their testimonies. A few families went to the temple to be sealed this past weekend, so it was beautiful hearing their testimonies.

We have a family of 7 who we're teaching--la familia C. They're beautiful! I can't believe how beautiful they all are. And they already look like members of the church. P (the mother) is set and ready to be baptized--we're just waiting for V to receive a confirmation. She feels the Spirit so strongly during our lessons and at church and when she reads and everything and he is waiting to have that same confirmation. We're hoping and praying that they are ready by December 24 to be baptized. We invited them to the Stake Conference in Stockton this weekend with Elder Bednar--Patricia told us that she'd like to have Elder Holland baptize her. :) She heard him in General Conference and was so moved by his power and spirit. Sadly I don't think Elder Holland will be here! ;) She's so great.

We're teaching R who is married to a member. He knows the Church is true and that the Book of Mormon is true. He drives his mother to mass during the second and third hours of church so he's not able to stay the whole time. He's very loyal to his mother and her (and his childhood) beliefs. He will be baptized--we just have to discern his needs and address them. He's also reading the Book of Mormon and is working on the Book of Mormon issue of the Ensign (Liahona). We'll get him baptized this month! We have a goal as a companionship to have 10 baptisms this month. Mom, we'll have to come up with something else other than scriptures if that's the case. And let's hope and pray that is the case!!!

Thank you for the package. Ahhh I love everything in it! I love the David Archuletta CD. I love the coat. The boots are so comfy and the headband and scarf are darling. With music, I have a lot of church music on my laptop--if someone could just make some burned CDs that'd be great. I didn't bring any CDs, just my iPod. I already have the music! The Christmas devotional was wonderful.

Ok I love you all. It's weird that this is my first Christmas without y'all. What's even weirder is thinking about how I'll be calling you on Christmas. I think of that once every week and still think it's strange. :) Hopefully I'll have something to talk about.

Welp, I'm off to Lard

Hi Pretty People,

That's right--I'm being transferred tomorrow and am so so so excited about it! I'll be companions with the coordinating sister, Sister Fernandez, like I thought. She had FIFTEEN investigators to church on Sunday--count it up. 15. We had 0. That was really disappointing for us! But I know the Stockton sisters will see miracles during December so they can have their own White Christmas. It's going to take a lot of hard work with Sister Fernandez; she doesn't mess around--I love it. I'm preparing myself to be overly exhausted and stressed but am really looking forward to it! I'm ready to work. I've been working, of course. You know what I mean. Mom, I am going to Manteca! Manteca means lard in Spanish--yummy. Sister Fernandez says "jummy." :) I've heard the ward is solid in Manteca, so we'll see how this goes! Is it bad that I had sighed with relief about not having to play the piano? Especially with Christmas songs?

I spent a long time writing to President Lewis today in my President's letter (probably my longest and best letter) so I don't have a lot of time to write. And then my letter was lost--system error. Rawr--I'm still a little frustrated about that, but I'll live and he'll live with my 5-line letter.

Umm I went to a wedding this week and then she was baptized the next day (elders' baptism). We went to three baptisms for the elders in the district, had a movie night for investigators (The Testaments--but we skipped out early to visit people). Dinner with the Shields was great--we've been keeping it on the down low--President didn't want us to tell anyone because he hasn't given anyone else permission to see family. We had dinner in a mansion with a lot of white people and American food and football was playing in the background--weird. Sorry I can't write more.

Things are great! Thanks for your letter, Mom. I love the "fly the flag---no more storage unit payment." :)

Love you,
Hermana Brinka