Kindra as a Sister Missionary!

August 26, 2013

Sounds like you have had a busy week! Chickens at Jefferson Square? Luckily we have a chicken farmer friend haha, never thought I would say that about Aloha! Im glad Janelle gets to go and be with Garret and that you guys will get updates all day, please pass the word along! I have been praying for him and for the surgeons since I found out. So keep me updated! I hate not being able to know how things are going as they are happening. SO I guess I will wait a week.

Im glad that you got to go to the Temple for so long on Saturday! And Im glad that you didnt miss Samantha going through. I hope you tell everyone how much I love them when they ask about me. And I really am doing excellent! I love it out here! Im sad knowing that I will probably be transferred in another two weeks from Montrose :( Its such an great place to be, and we sisters are spoiled here! But I love the people!

So this week we had dinner at the Zenefski's home. I love the Zenefski's! And they have a daughter a year or so younger than me who is pregnant. Well Sunday night at dinner we were talking about how her due date is the day I will most likely be in Broomall leaving! So I told her I would be sad that I couldn't meet her baby. She said, well she could come early, just as long as my husband gets back before she is born! (Her husband is in the reserves and in Guam for two weeks, getting home just before I leave). Well we get a phone call from Brother Zenefski asking us to go be with his kids because he is taking his pregnant daughter to the hopsital, and if she has the baby this early he will forever blame me! Well guess what? She had the baby. Early just for me :) They got a hold of her husband and his unit is sending him home, actually he is already home and with his wife and met his daughter, all of this happened earlier this week.

So when I saw Brother Zenefski at church yesterday all I could do was give  him the 'sorry!' smile, and he would laugh and tell someone else about how his grand daughter coming early was all my fault!

Which would have been just fine, but Sister Oveson and I were speaking so we were on the stand and I looked over at him and smiled and then he started laughing so I started laughing... but only one person said anything to me about laughing on the stand any how! So its all good....

Oh and did I tell you that the branch choir director had us sing last week? Apparently its time to get the sisters in the face of the branch and help motivate them to keep up the member missionary work! Plus we had a farewell talk for Elder Cooper who is reporting to the MTC this Wednesday, so it was a good sacrament meeting I presume.

The other exciting thing that happened this week was that we got another new Branch Mission Leader! We are excited for him! Brother Ungaro will be excellent! He is a newer member and this is the first real calling he has had. Which no big deal we will just put you in charge of the missionary work! It will be great for him and a huge learning opportunity!

Our first correlation meeting was a little frustrating however... we met with our old BML who is now in the branch presidency so we will still be working with him which I am ecstatic about! Brother Massamini is awesome and has some great things planned to move the work along.

Back to correlation... it was three hours long. And basically we taught Bro. Ungaro about the exchange/dinner program we have ... and a few other basics. But I didnt realize that a meal calendar was something you had to learn about... it seems so simple to me, because we have had other such systems before. I need to have more patience to help him learn. Because he has learned a LOT already and is doing awesome with what he knows. Its just giving him a little more at a time to help him be as successful as possible! I love the Ungaro's! Plus they make really good food. Like they made this excellent tomato/onion salad stuff, I need to get the recipe for it, so good!

Anyways, I just love food, sorry for the side track, I guess its getting to be lunch time so Im a little hungry, good thing were going grocery shopping next! (not)

Our branch also got to go to the Temple this weekend, and we did not get to go because its out of the mission boundaries, even though our Cheryl (our recent convert) was going to do baptisms for the dead for the first time, and her father (who we have been helping teach) went through the Temple for himself, and the whole branch was there! Nope. We didnt get to go :( Which was sad. But they told us they got to see the new Temple video and got me excited to go see it in... 14 months! So yeah I am excited for that.

But it was probably good that we didnt go because I ended up being sick that day. The night before we were at a members house for dinner and I started getting a headache and my back started hurting really badly as well. It got to the point where I could not contribute to the conversation because I could not focus on what was being said. It was really frustrating. And when we got home that night I went to bed right after planning (which is not normal, Im usually using every spare minute I get to catch up in my journal, Im only like 10 days behind now! Im catching up!!! :) When I woke up it felt better so I got up and exercised and everything, well by the time we got to companion study again it was hurting so bad and I couldnt concentrate so my golden sent me back to bed. Which is probably good, because I was thinking I should sleep more but I didnt want her to think I was being disobedient, so when she told me to go back to bed I did. And I didnt wake up for 3 hours. Apparently I am more stressed than I think I am because sleep and back aches are how my body tells me I am stressed.

But after that I woke up and I was fine! I dont know why it started or anything but I know it was all I needed and now I am feeling much better! So I am grateful for tender mercies, like naps when you are sick.

Other than that its been a good week! We watched 17 miracles for district training because our district leader was sick and couldnt concentrate enough to prepare much more. It was fun, we brought popcorn and the other sisters hadnt seen it but since I had I tried to count all the miracles. I counted 27, so it was good. And then we had a testimony meeting and shared a lot of experiences with each other. It was a good meeting and reminded me why I am here, how grateful I am for the gospel! And for everything that the saints went through during that time.  I know that Joseph Smith was called of God to bring the gospel back to the Earth at this time. I know that through the revelations that he received we know how we can return to live with God again and how we can live with our families eternally through the sealing power of the Temple. How grateful I am to have Temples, and to have lived so close to one my whole life. I hope that the members never neglect the power of the Temple and serving our ancestors. How grateful I am to them for their sacrifices so I could know what I do today.

The Gospel is true, Christ is my Savior and Redeemer. It is through his Atoning sacrifice that I can return to live with God and it is through the priesthood power and the Temples that I can live with my family eternally. I love this Gospel!

And I love learning about it. One of my favorite things is study time! And learning from the other missionaries. Especially Elder Crump, he and I think a lot alike, however Sister Oveson thinks a lot of what we talk about is speculation and then she tries to end the conversation. But my question isnt answered so I try to talk to Elder Crump while we are at their house and she can write letters or bake cookies instead of talking with us. (The Crumps are our senior missionary couple who feed us all the time!)

In fact yesterday we had lunch with our Relief Society President and she sent us home with a TON of frozen pork.They had a pig slaughtered but she is not a fan of this butcher so she is trying to clear it out so they can butcher another one. It was awesome! But sister Oveson and I realized neither of us have ever cooked half of what she gave us. So we called the Crumps and we went up there and took our new pork chops and S. Crump taught us how to make pork chops, they were sooo good! I love our members, and the Crumps :) I am such a spoiled little missionary! I wonder what my next area will bring... Itll be an adventure thats for sure!

Well Im glad that Lori and Rissa were able to come out and stay! Eat some extra Tillamook ice cream for me :) And Tillamook cheese, that is one thing I definitely miss out here! And good ice cream... its just not the same. But awesome that you guys get to go have a girls weekend at the beach! (Thats the first place I wanna go when I get home). I probably wont ever serve by the shore in Jersey for that reason... but only time will tell!

I cant believe Keira is a senior now. Your going to be in college when I get home! Thats CRAZY talk! And Rissa is already there!

Rissa- You will LOVE BYU-I! I do :) Just get involved, do things with your friends, go to activities on campus, stay up late and eat nachos at 2 am! (Ive done that countless times...) but go to devotional! Do your religion homework first, it will help you understand the rest of your home work and do it faster! One thing I made a goal of was to not do homework on Sundays, and I saw how much the Lord blessed me in the rest of my week. And go to the Temple as often as you can! I went once a week, Friday mornings are super busy in the baptistery! But its a wonderful place to start your weekend. I know that I was blessed for making the Temple a priority with every aspect of my life.

I love you all! I hope you are enjoying all of your adventures at home! Even if they are catching, chickens and everything else! I love you all, the gospel is true, what else matters?!