10-13-2014: Greetings from Hurst!

Hello!

Yay! I love pictures!  :)  And thanks, Dad, for going ahead and sending in that application for Spain and doing my classes, I appreciate it!  

This week was super fun, as always.  Of course, the weather is bipolar here in Texas so on Friday it was like 90 degrees and then Saturday it dropped to like 60, so we never know what clothes to wear.  It changes every second which makes life exciting.  hah  

On Thursday we had Zone Conference and *gulp* it was my last one!!!  AH!  So I gave my departing testimony (all the missionaries that go home before the next zone conference give a final testimony) and it was sooo weird, I don't feel like I'm going home still!  Well, it's because I'm not, I've still got toooons of time left, right? Well...anyways... :)  During Zone Conference we watched a screening copy of "Meet the Mormons" IT WAS SO GOOD!  I laughed, I cried, I felt the spirit, it is amazing!  If you haven't already seen it or seen a theater it's playing in, I absolutely recommend it.  100000%.  meetthemormons.com  check it out.  It's a documentary made by the church that follows 6 Mormon Families from around the world and their stories and why they believe in God.  It's really a powerful movie.

I also participated in the Primary Program for our ward :)  Man, i love being around the primary kids, they're so fun!  But they needed me to help with a song or something so I sang a little verse to the new song "families are forever" or something like that?  It's a cute song.  It was fun to participate!  

Hermana Kofe says that her mom isn't in the stake YW, she's a gospel doctrine teacher? I think?  But she's in the Oakland East Tongan stake if that sounds familiar.  They meet in the Multi-stake center.  She's super funny, it's fun having her as my companion.  

So a cool experience this week: on Monday I had this impression that we needed to visit with the Flores family from the ward.  But our plans that night wouldn't allow it, and we had appointments the next few days so I made sure to put it in our backup plans for the next few days.  That thought kept coming back to my mind so I made sure to keep them on my mind as a first backup for when our appointments didn't work out, and to make sure to schedule them for the first open opportunity.  Well, Friday night we finally were able to stop by their house and it was neat because both the hermano and hermana said, "man, when you walked through the door we were so relieved, we really needed to feel the peace that the spirit brings tonight!"  Things ended up working out just like the Lord wanted it to.  :)  

Oh, and I keep forgetting to tell you mom, that we have a Bike store here in Hurst/North Richland Hills that will take apart and ship my bike.  The box/disassembly will cost about 50, and then on top of that to ship it.  For Sister George to send her bike to Orem it cost about 120, so do you still want me to send it home?  It will probably cost more to send it to San Francisco.  

Also, thank you for still loving me despite my transgression against Texas State Law :)  

Thanks for keeping HM in your prayers!  He's doing well, he came to General Conference last week and we didn't even know it until we saw his family this week for our appointment!  That's awesome.  

I'm glad y'alls week went well, and that Dad won't have to fend for himself anymore. :) hah  

I love you all so much!

<3 Hermana Sangre

P.S. I got my "trunky packet" this week. (hah)  It's the packet with my flight plans and a letter from President and stuff.  I forgot the exact time of my flight, but I'm flying into SFO on December 18th around 10:30ish in the morning. 

10-6-2014: Conference and Marathon Success!

Hello!

Ok, business items first:

1.)  I got the package of papers!  Thanks for the talks and the email and the school information.  I saw President at a meeting on Wednesday and asked him about the ecclesiastical endorsement--he got out his ipad and did it right then and there.  He's so good!  One thing I don't really know about is the study abroad--the two that really stood out to me were the one in spain during spring and the one in mexico where you go and teach for the summer.  So....basically I don't know which I want to do!  I'm going to do some thinking today, but any thoughts/guidance?  Also for classes: I like the thought you had, Dad, to take it slow.  I don't necessarily have to be decided right now on what I want to do for school/major.  But go ahead and sign me up for some classes and I'll go ahead and change whatever I need to when I get back? I don't know, I trust y'all.  :)

2.) How much do you love me? :)  Ok.  So last week I got a speeding ticket in Blue Mound, TX (basically the smallest town in our area) and it will cost about $180.  I'm sorry.  I was going 13 over the speed limit, and honestly I wasn't even paying attention to the change in the speed.  I'll do better, I promise.  I went ahead and transfered enough money to my debit card and then I'll go ahead and pay it this week.  So if there ends up being only like $5 in both my savings and my checking...that's why. 

But onto the fun stuff! My new companion is a brand new missionary named Hermana Kofe, she's from Oakland!  She's Tongan, 20, has 14 siblings (!!!!) and is super cool.  She's actually just here on a re-assignment waiting for her visa to Panama, but I'm really excited to have her!  

We had a great week with lots of success.  We committed H.M. to be baptized on November 1st!  He's been taught by missionaries on-again-off-again for about 2 years and his wife is a returning-to-activity-less-active.  :)  It was a great lesson and he offered a really sweet prayer at the end.  I love that family a lot.  

We also had a really sweet lesson with the G family, a less active family that I was working with the last time I was here.  The Husband--who is normally very quiet and stoic--thanked us very sincerely for our support.  They've gone through a lot but they are ready to come back to church.  We saw them on Saturday and right after we left the Hermana sent us a text saying that they had just started watching the recording of General Conference.  It made me smile :)  

Speaking of General Conference!  I loved the whole thing!  Literally, there was something cool that i wrote down from every talk.  One particular piece of revelation that I received during one of the talks is that during the time I'm home before going to school, I want to go to the temple at least twice--once to do an endowment session, and a second time to do sealings as a family if at all possible, for family names.  I just love the temple and that was an impression of something that I would like to do while I'm home.  I loved all the talks, some that stood out to me in particular were the one from Elder Bednar, from the member of the 70 who's first name is jorg?  and others that I can't remember at the present time...hah.  But it was great!  It's like Christmas but better!  We have a living prophet on the earth today.  I know that he leads and guides our church.  

Glad to hear that the marathon weekend went well!  When is the next marathon scheduled for so that I can join! (JUST KIDDING.)  hah.  Hope you both have a good week ahead of you.  Love you lots.

<3

Hermana Sangre

9-29-2014: What Happened to September???

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Hello Family!

This week I absolutely felt the power of the atonement of Jesus Christ.  I've been praying for you all and I'm glad things are going alright.  

So some crazy news, Hermana Lacey George, my current companion is going home on Wednesday! She has finished her mission and she's going back to good ole Orem, UT. :)  ALSO, I'll be training for my last 2 transfers!  Still kind of in shock that I only have 2 transfers left, time just flies by sooooo fast!  Didn't I just get here yesterday??  I guess not... But that will be a good experience, I'm excited!  

Let's see, some good things from this week....We had dinner with this lady Hna Guacaran who is from Venezuela and she told us her conversion story--she was involved in the ministry of another church when the missionaries found her! Nutso, miracles do happen.  She is really cool and has a super strong testimony.  

A cool miracle--we had a member with us to teach an appointment and it turns out that our investigator wasn't home.  So the hermana turns to us and says "you know what? I have a friend who lives just down the street, let's go talk to her!" so we do, and this friend turns out to be the wife of the brother of a member!  Crazy, right? coincidences absolutely do NOT exist.  So we talk to them and they tell us how much they admire their family members that are part of the church and we invited them to learn more and they said YES!  So we'll see how that goes, I'm excited.  :)

We also taught this guy named OM this week--He is married to a less-active member and he has been taught by missionaries for a few years now.  At one point he even had a baptismal date and everything, but for whatever reason he dropped it.  He recently moved into our area so we started teaching him and he came to church on sunday for the first time in a while!  He has real intent and is really searching for an answer from God about what he should do.  We invited him to pray about a date when he could get baptized and he agreed!  We have high hopes for them.

Also, I've decided that Mexicans know how to make good sandwiches.  First they buy special sandwich bread called "Bolillos" and then they toast them, then they put some refried beans, avocado, meat, cheese and mexican crema.  SO good.  I've converted.  

Also, I went to a "New Training Meeting" for the trainers this next transfer and I saw an Elder that is serving in Gainesville! So i asked for updates and he told me about RW who is sooo ready to be baptized and is just waiting to get some paperwork in for something.  (he's one of my black grandpas) man, that is such a cool guy.  

The Women's Broadcast on Saturday was wonderful!  The last couple conferences they've been putting a ton of emphasis on Temples and Covenants and I just reaffirmed the desire I have to be a "temple-going person."  When I'm in Provo, I will probably even be able to go once a week.  Man, I just love the temple so much.  

I'm glad you could go up and visit with Buck and Paula, I'm sure that they felt your love for them and the Savior's love for them.  I hope the time in UT goes well, I wish Daddy and Jake luck in their marathon!  I will be rooting for them from the Hurst Stake Center as I watch Conference.  ;)

I love you SO much.  You are in my prayers always.  

<3

Hermana Sangre

9-22-2014: Sad News...

[Editor's note: Kate's Uncle Lane passed away on Sunday, so it was sad news that we shared with her for her weekly email.  Here is her response.]

Dear Family,

I am so grateful for the joy and peace that the Plan of Salvation brings.  I know that God has a plan for us and that He knows each of us personally and perfectly.  God is a god of Love and of mercy and of light.  I know that Christ suffered everything that is hard and ugly in life so that we don't have to.  Because of Him, death hath no sting and pain has an end.  

I am sorry to hear about Uncle Lane, I love him a lot and I love you all so much.  I will keep him, Buck, Paula, and you all in my prayers.  

Thank you for raising me in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.  Thank you for being such great examples to me of Christlike love and kindness.  

This week I had some good experiences where I've been able to feel a small portion of the Love that God has for each and every one of us, and I couldn't even contain myself.  We can't even comprehend how much God loves us, it is infinite, it is real. It is there whether we feel we deserve it or not.  It is simply there.  

I didn't recieve the email from BYU, they must have sent it to my gmail account, if you could send it that'd be great.

I love you all so much.  Sorry I didn't write more.  

Love, 

Kate

9-17-2014: TEMPLE!!!

Sorry, this week it's gonna be a short email.... :)

so we went to the temple today!  It was VERY needed.  man, I love that place.  it is so peaceful and beautiful.  But as a result, due to traffic and such, it didn't leave a whole lot of time for us to do our weekly things!  So we're running and emailing.  :)  

Basically, we had a good week!  S, our 13 year old buddy, is doing really well!  We're teaching her tonight, actually.  She came to church again on Sunday and she's working towards her baptism on November 1st!  She's super cool and uber prepared.  AND super mature.  When we call her to confirm our appointments she says things like, "Of course it's fine, i'll be waiting for you here" *but in spanish. and when we come in to teach she always offers us something to drink and other small things that girls her age don't usually think to say.  She's just super cool.  

We had a ward party on Saturday!  it was la dia de la hispanidad fiesta and it was suuuper fun.  we had a couple less actives go so that was good, and basically it was lots of goooooood hispanic food and some games and a couple people performing traditional dances from their countries and then (of course) it ended in a dance for everyone.  Hispanics LOVE to dance.  we were leaving right as it was starting, don't worry, missionary mantle intact. ;)  

I've never heard of Just serve, it sounds like a good program!  We're trying to do more service in our area too, we might even teach a spanish class to some old fogies at the senior center in our area.  :) Fun stuff.  

Hermana Sangre's previous district

To answer y'alls question about what we do when we don't have appointments, we have LOTS of resoures to use, like, missionaries keep REALLY good track of every single person they've ever talked to or given a pass along card to or shared a lesson with.  So a lot of time we might go follow up on those people, or we might go knock doors around people we know or we'll work with members to see who they know in their area and who they're working with.  Or we'll do service.  But man, there is SO much work to do, it's insane!  And our area is pretty big, so there's lots of people that we need to meet still that are just looking for the gospel!  

sorry if i didn't get to answer all your questions, I'll get them next week!

Keep on Running, Dad.  You got it!  

I love you all so much!  

Hermana Sangre

9-15-2014: temple!

sorry, I'm on just for a second, but I just thought I'd let you know that I'm actually going to be going to the Temple on Wednesday, so that means we had to change our Pday.  SO that means that I will be giving you my weekly update on Wednesday :)  Just a quick note to let you know since I forgot to tell you last week.  have a good 48 hours until then! 

:)

Hermana kates

2014-9-8: What a Wonderful Week!

Hello family!

We had  a wonderful week this week!

One downside, a family that I really love and had been working with the first time I was here basically said "Thanks but no thanks."  Kind of tough, because I love this family a bunch, but it will be OK because I have faith that they'll accept the gospel another time in their life.  We laid a good foundation.

But on a happier note, we saw a TON of miracles this week!  

First off, we met this super young couple V and D this week, and it's actually pretty funny how we met them.  So...once upon a time our apartment complex decided to change all the toilets in all of the apartments, so one time during our studies this maintenance worker comes in to change our toilet.....he was hispanic and asked how we knew spanish, so we got talking about how we were missionaries and what we did and almost immediately we asked him if he knew anyone who could benefit from a message of Jesus Christ.  So then he starts telling us about his son D, and gives us his address and phone number and everything!  Then Monday this week we stopped by and talked to D and his girlfriend V and just shared something small about the Book of Mormon, set up a return appointment for Saturday where we taught the Restoration and then Sunday they came to church!  CRAZY, they are so prepared and searching for a way to grow closer to God and it's awesome!  I was kind of in shock yesterday, because I feel like I have to fight to convince people that they need to come to church or that they need to read, and V and D are just so cool, they already wanted to do those things, they just needed someone to come and invite them!  

And allllllll  of this started with a toilet.  Whodathunk it.

We also brought this girl S to church, she's 13 and she lives with her super catholic grandma, but spent some of the summer going to church with her LDS mom in Mexico!  So we just found her a week and a half ago KNOCKING DOORS and she already wants to get baptized.  It's fine, no big deal.  She is super cool, shes already talked to her Mom and Grandma about learning more and talking to us and getting baptized and they've both said they would support her in her decision! SO. Cool. 

Last Tuesday in my interview with President he told me that he felt very strongly that I was the person that needed to come to Hurst in the Emergency Transfer, that there were people that needed me here--whether new or people that I already worked with.  It was a cool thing to hear.  

ALSO, last night we were knocking doors and knocked into some members that go to the Tongan ward here!  It was cool, they offered us food or rides or whatever we needed ever.  They were just so generous and loving and it was cool to meet them.  

Basically, the Lord is just blessing us so much.  

I'm glad things have been going well this week and that y'all will be able to rest a little bit!  I'm glad BYU is winning (in Ward Council yesterday, Hermana George was wearing orange, just by chance, and the 2nd Counselor in the Bishopric told her that orange was the wrong color because the Longhorns lost, it was good news...hah)  Yay for nat having a roommate!  I hope his classes are going well and that he's calling y'all every sunday night ;)

I love you all so much, have a blessed week this week

:) Hermana Sangre