June 27, 2013 {Kaitlyn}

HOLA FAMILIA!

WOW!! This week was the best!! There are soooo many things I could say!! :) I'll start with the most exciting. :) SUNDAY! Was that not the coolest thing you've ever experienced! You guys should be jealous because being in the MTC during that time made it a thousand times better! :) The spirit was truly amazing that day. A few missionaries in our district passed the sacrament to the prophets and apostles, and one sister had the opportunity to sing in a small choir for their sacrament meeting. They've been here lots the past week because all the mission presidents have been here since Saturday. Although I didn't ever see any of them, I definitely could feel the spirit while they were here! I felt like it was christmas eve waiting for that broadcast to begin! :) Haha That was the coolest thing in the world! I have so many things that I could tell you I loved about that, but I won't because you all heard it as well. Just know that I loved it, and it really shows how amazing this gospel is. We all play a HUGE part in missionary work whether on a mission or not. It is going to be amazing what our church can do now, because the responsibility has definitely increased. We as missionaries are surely being prepared for this, and now all members will be as well. We ran into some missionaries that have been testing out the internet missions, and they have had so much success! They have baptized people from all over the world just through talking on facebook and skype! They said that their retention rates have been higher as well! Awesome huh?? I hope you all were hit by the messages we were given as much as I was. IT IS AWESOME to be a missionary at this time! I have no doubt that this is where I am supposed to be. I LOVE IT HERE! :) Those words weren't so true the first 4 days, but they are beyond true now! I thought that the first sunday was amazing? No, then another week came around and I was even better! Now this week came around, with SOOO many great devotionals and I absolutely LOVE it here! The work is still hard, but it's 120% worth it!

Now, onto after the meeting on Sunday. Woahhh. I walk out of the doors to see SARA?! She was the last person I'd be expecting to see there, because I figured it would be full of ward mission leaders and stuff. I was SHOCKED! Ya I literally screamed. Ha woops. :) Haha It was the best thing ever! I'm so so happy that I had that opportunity. I just had to tell her in person that I don't have time and can't explain every reason of why she should go on a mission... but just to GO! I know Kim was disappointed that she didn't get to be there, but Sara can just transfer the message. Kenz, Sara, Kim!! YOU GUYS ALL SHOULD GO!!! :) I promise you that you would not regret a second of your decision. And I promise you that you do not need to stress about not knowing everything. The Lord blesses you as long as you're giving your all. I can promise you that that statement is the truth! Put all your faith in the Lord from the day you decide to start your papers, and he will guide you through the whole way. Satan will try and tell you other wise, but don't let down and he will leave. Trust me. I surely experienced Satan the first few days of being here, but now there is no time for him to be here! I'm immerged in the Lord's work and he cannot be a part of that. :) Ok... now to my next surprise! First Jake told me that my parents said they were coming. I said What?? They told me that they will be going to the Stake Center. So the whole meeting I was confused, but just dropped it. Then when I saw Sara she told me that you guys WERE here! I couldn't believe it! Brother Burns said you don't want to see them, so you better get going. Sooo I quickly talked to Sara and off I went! Don't worry mom, I was crying tears of shock/joy... nothing about that meeting made me sad! I was SOO excited to see my best friend, without breaking the rules, cuz I wasn't trying to see her. :) Then I'm on my way back to the MTC talking about how crazy it is that my parents are somewhere super near me, but I'm not seeing them. Right before crossing the street I spot the truck. I knew it had to be it because it had the green and purple pin stripe. I asked my companion if she thought it would be bad to write a note and she said no. I quickly ran over there to put it on the windshield but was a bit confused cuz I remembered our truck being taller. I couldn't decide if I should leave it! Then I didn't know if I was breaking the rules. Haha so then my training leader was like WHY wouldn't you?! So I ran over there to put it back on and I see out of the corner of my eye what I thought to be mom ducking behind a car. I said to the sisters I'm pretty sure my parents are over there! Is it bad if I give them a hug?! She said of course NOT! SO I SPRINTED on over! :) It was SO GREAT to see you! You read my note wrong, because I was saying I thought it would be hard for mom to see me! But I'm glad it wasn't! :) I told my comp that I felt like that was good for her because she saw how happy I truly am! :) I LOVE YOU GUYS! I'm so grateful that I saw you, and did it without breaking the rules! :) LOVE YOU LOVE YOU!

Ok, I only have 10 more minutes so I'm not going to be able to share everything. But the next best thing was Tuesday night devotional. It was Sister Janice Kapp Perry. IT WAS UNBELIEVABLE! We sang a Medley of her songs and you could feel the spirit so strongly! Her husband is the cutest man alive!! He gets up and says: "Hi, I'm Brother Janice Kapp Perry." :) So cute! Then she told a story about how she was practicing the clarinet one time and he came up and said "Those lips look like they were made for something more than the clarinet." Hahaha the man who can barely talk leaps out of his seat and gives her a smooch right on there in front of all of us! And then another. HILARIOUS! Next, she made a family song for there family and sang it. It was so cute! He jumps up sings his little line of "I LOVE YOU" does a little jig and sits back down! I was dying, it was the cutest meeting ever! She sung her testimony through a song, and the spirit was so strong!! Lastly, at the end of the meeting we all sang the EFY Medley, except they have created a new one for us missionaries. Including the lyrics "we are NOW the world's missionaries." It is such a powerful rendition to sing! If you can look it up you definitely should! By the end of the song we had half of the marriott full of missionaries standing and singing this loud and proud. The spirit was beaming! We weren't supposed to have a devotional review, but our district asked if we could. It was amazing. One of our elders just came into the room saying how grateful he was for the sisters and that we are the mothers of the army of helaman, now serving missions. We are enlisted. Wow it was so powerful! Then my favorite counselor told us three times in his testimony. To Him, it pleases Him. Wowww the spirit was so strong! I LOVE IT HERE!

I wish I had more time, but time is out. I'll try to write a little more in my letter to mom. I probably don't have time for other letters to the fam today cuz I want to write the girls. :) It is amazing here! The language is coming well! Somehow my teacher told another that I have improved the most, so I got interviewed on how I've come about the language. It's amazing what you can learn with the Lord behind you! It's so important to not compare yourself with others, and to just try your best! The Lord is always by your side! I LOVE THIS PLACE! This church is abosutely amazing! I have learned more in 2 weeks than I have in my whole entire life!!! Thanks to everyone who has helped me get here! :)