You've got a lot of heart

Hey!! Yeah the sugar fast is hard because everything in our house has
sugar in it because sugar is in all pre packaged foods. Do you have
any better ideas? Like any good cleanses or magic pills/drugs?
Hahahaha. But a cleanse would be nice. I only heard Uchtdorf's talk
and it was so good!!! I took 20 dollars out of my account today, just
fyi, and hopefully our c ars will be refilled fornext week. And we're
good for dinners. I'm excited for Carlos, he's basically golden,
except he drinks. Haha but we should be able to get him through that
pretty well. How are you?? Things are cooling off here I think, which
I am super glad about. We think that they're going to extend the girls
to 2 years or cut everyone down to 18 months. I just feel like there's
going to be something exciting happening, but maybe I'm just getting
caught up in the new apostle spirit buzz in the air hahaha. But the
mission kind of feels like that too, it's because it's so young. They
keep on saying everyone will be training, but more English elders just
keep coming in hahah and obvs I won't be training any of them hahahaha.
Sister Burke likes bagpipes and so I've been listening to some good
old Scottish stuff :) I miss you!! Sometimes I think I miss you a ton,
and I get excited for Christmas, but then someone like Hermana Perez
comes along and plays with my hair so it's all good :) I am going to
cook you so much real Mexican food when I get home hahahaha. Can you
believe how long I've been out? It's crazy how fast time goes, all
ready on my second conference!! I love revelation!!!! I got your
letter today too!!! Thank you so much for writing!! You're fine,
Sister Burke doesn't get that much mail, sometimes I feel bad, but
it's okay, they send her giant packages haha, if we're together for
Halloween can you send some stuff for both of us? It's the best when
you can share (I do share anyway of course haha all those gummies
hahaha) I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!! Tell everyone hi for me!!!!! I can't
believe Mary is getting married already!!! Isn't it so weird that's
what happens after people come home? Don't worry they're extending me
to 2 years so it'll be fine. I'm moving my records to the Sac 10
Branch hahahaha. If you wanna stalk some roads we're always down on
Waterman, Vintage Park, Calvine, Bond, Elk Grove Florin, they're all
in Elk orove. It's an ok place, I just love the people. Wilton is
awesome though, that's where my branch president lives. He rocks. He's
taking us iut to eat tomorrow at 8 haha, we'll be home at like 10 with
drive time hahaha

LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!!

Entrevistas

Wow so this week was interviews and so it was probably one of the best weeks I've had on the mission. I love President Jardine so much. So much. He is like my personal prophet. Our interview was so good. My interview haha. We talked about the Atonement and being a disciple in Christ, and how I need to forgive myself. President also gave me some council which I think has changed my life. He said "Every time you look back, or look behind you, you let Satan control your future." Wow. Then we had a talk about the Armor of God and how the Atonement is about looking forward with hope. He told me that Godly Sorrow is in every fiber of the gospel, but that guilt never has been and never will be part of the gospel. Wow. So cool. He also silenced two phone calls...both of which I'm pretty sure were from the office of the first presidency who he was supposed to call at 12. Oops. Sorry President, but if they were calling to make you the new apostle I'm glad you missed it because you aren't allowed to leave. Hahaha I love him so much. Plus he's not black, asian, or Mexican so he can't be the new apostle. That's what I'm guessing haha. 

In district meeting we talked about accepting the Atonement and keeping the gospel simple, because that's how it really is. And we did roleplays of just saying one sentence of doctrine. Like "God loves you and wants you to be happy."  "Christ has paid for your sins" "Living Christ's Gospel gives you peace in this life and eternal joy" "Jesus understands perfectly everything you have ever experienced." It was crazy spiritual. I mean for the sisters at least. Not to hate on the elders, but they were laughing haha, in the mean time it was like super spirit in the sister corner and I cried and Sister Barfuss and Sister Diamond both teared up a little. It was awesome. It was straight spirit testifying to spirit, because there was nothing else in the way for the spirit to work around or to not testify of haha. It was so cool. Sister Burke and I are going to look for opportunities to use that kind of simple testifying in lessons and contacting. Also our DL showed us a video from the 12 step addiction program and it was Sooo Good!!! Everyone go watch those!!! What we took away from it was the question "will you let me take this?" Which is what Christ asks us all the time and we never quite give it all or let him take it from us, it's crazy how simple the gospel of Jesus Christ is and we over complicate it to try and understand how someone could love us so much. We're imperfect and we can't comprehend how someone could love us so perfectly, so we hold back. I love the Atonement.

AND a friend of our member got baptized this Sunday-the elders taught him- and Carlos Pilar came!!!!! YAAAYYY HE IS SO COOL!!!!! And Hermano Perez took him under his wing and it was the best thing ever, I love that family. I am inviting them to my wedding. Anyway, Carlos liked the baptism and then he stayed for the dinner afterwards and it was so awesome, the members really opened to him and made him feel comfortable and it was the best. He said he would come to general conference too!!!!!! YAY FOR THE SPIRIT!!!!Â

I LOVE THE MISSION I LOVE THE GOSPEL I LOVE THE ATONEMENT I LOVE THE SACRAMENT I LOVE THE BOOK OF MORMON AMEN Y AMEN. 

This is a little vent-y, but hey, thanks for listening :)

So this week we had exchanges and they were awesome. Sister Diamond who is an English sister I lived with in Rancho is my STL here now and it makes me so happy. She is awesome. Our exchanges were awesome, basically we stayed at home and talked. Hahaha just kidding. We talked a lot in the car because their area is a whole stake and so we had lots of drive time. It was so good though. And we taught a lesson to one of their investigators who is on date, and who would have thought, but the sisters felt they needed to teach the law of chastity, and this kid was already living it!! Yeah!!!! He said yeah I've been living that way for 2 years. Go him!!! His name is Ryan. And he is on date for October 10? Or something like that. Haha, I don't know the date anymore, ever. I stick with days. Like today's when we go to church right? Yeah so tomorrow is the day we clean the apartment. It's already the day we do weekly planning? Where did all those days go? Hahaha. Anyway. Time is weird. It just sneaks on by all the time.

Anyway, exchanges were so good, teaching Ryan was so awesome. English is weird, but it was still really good. And Sister Diamond is just the best at sincere compliments. So that was really nice hahaha. Then we went to her leadership zone meeting, and that was really cool, even though I wasn't a leader I got to go and they actually included me, and it was cool. It's like branch council for the zone haha. I'm glad they have those meetings, I sympathize a little more with leaders now and I like to think I'm a little ehh like nicer or better behaved, more open to their suggestions. But I still think our new zone leader is trying too hard and it kinda bugs me. But hey, at least he's trying rather than not trying. It's just his thing is like this zone needs to have FUN!! And I'm like oh excuse me, I wasn't having fun last transfer or ever? I've been doing it wrong this whole time? Oh please enlighten me. Please look way too into which sports we play as a zone on pday.  ALSO, if I sit next to an elder in district meeting don't awkwardly ask the elder to move like a minute later. Don't make something out of Nothing. I promise, zero feelings involved except for the feeling of "there is an open chair and I feel like sitting in it because it's closest."  I don't have time for elders. I promise. They are Elders, that should explain everything of what I meant when I said I don't have time for elders. Plus so many of them just seem like sensitive and stuff. Please no, sisters are drama enough as it is. Suck it up and love your companion, end of story :) 

So anyway, I love my zone, I have so much fun. I love it so much I go to every zone morning glory and I have so much fun. Also I probably need to work on loving all the missionaries in my zone and not getting offended by someone telling me to have fun. Also the ysa sisters told Jasmine she couldn't come to ysa since she's basically inactive in our spanish branch now, and that made me wicked mad. This girl doesn't need anymore rejection and in the manuals I read it says ysa just needs to be 18-30 it doesn't say anything about being graduated already or not. She's going to graduate this year, make an exception to your silly rule. Ahhhh. Whatever. It's cool. Life is good, I just wish the YSA sisters would have let us tell Jasmine or not told her right away the day she finally decided to come back to church. But it's cool man, it's cool. 

No one is super progressing, but we have people to see so that's good. Interviews are coming up-YAYYY. And the elders are finally baptizing Jose next Sunday so I am super pumped for that.

Love you all!!!

Sis Burke's family sent us a ton of food which was really nice and thoughtful but I feel like if I eat it I'll become a real Mexican and get Diabetes!

And just the sheriff telling everyone to not wash their car to save water with his bumper sticker haha

Sac 10 Rocks

So this week was pretty sweet. We got special permission to go to la
actividad multicultural and it was so cool. We missed the food though,
which I am not gonna lie I am a little bitter about that hahah, but
it's okay, because we added a new investigator while everyone was
eating, so hey. Sacrifices=blessings hahaha. His name is Carlos and he
was like I really want to change my life, I know there's something
more out there, can you come back and we can talk more about religious
things? Uh si, we most definitely can do that. Hahaha so that's
awesome. He's way cool.

Then another time we went to a return appointment we'd made with a
daughter, her dad answered the door and shot us down hardcore hahaha,
so we left, were going to get in the car, but instead talked to this
guy standing outside smoking and talked about stuff, he's a facebooker
for causes hahaha I don't know, and we talked and shared a scripture,
and he said he would come to church someday, and said we could try to
convert him, hahaha challenge accepted, we know where you live. The.
We kept walking and there were these two mexican guys, and we walked
up, and the one guy came out from the cars and we were like uuhh....
But then he was like oh good to see you guys, are you here for my
wife? So we said yes hahaha, and he said oh she isn't here right now,
it's been a while, here's her number, call and set up an appointment
and come back. So that was awesome, we had no idea who they were, but
we looked them up and they're some dropped investigators from a couple
months back or something? So cool. Then we kept walking, talked to
this asian lady, she recognized who we were, and she didn't really
speak English, but she gave us a reference haha, she took my comp's
planner and wrote down the address and everything, it's for Mong, but
we can send her and her referral in haha so that rocks. The only
downside is that literally everyone was smoking pot that day on the
streets we were walking on and we got headaches hahaha. I hate pot. So
much. You can smell the sin.

Pedro is doing super super well. We haven't seem him yet this week,
but we'll get him haha. Bring some more members to introduce to him
and Ana. She still doesn't want to come to the Spanish branch, but
we'll get her. Haha we'll get them both haha.

Ate some really awesome food this week which kind of made me sick haha,
it's called chincharron, I can't spell that. Anyway, it's like fat
from the back of a pig. Like that's all it is. And they eat it. And
this time it was in salsa verde. And I'd already had a plate of rice
and chicken with mole, and then a plate of that and I couldn't eat it
just by itself so I ate it with tortillas. I didn't finish but I
literally felt so sick. I died in the car hahaha, put the seat back
and tried not to throw up hahahaha good times. It's over now. Hahaha

This sunday Jaime didn't find our car!!! Yay!!! Church was good, we
went to go find a Maria after church and she wasn't home but we met
her dad. Then we went to dinner with the Perez Family, and I love them
so much. They're invited to my wedding. They have to be there. And it
was fun because we helped Hna make the food and Hermano was being his
usual hilarious self and I played the guitar and then the Suarez
family came over and the elders and it was like this giant family
event. They rock. And everyone teased me because they thought I was
too scared to ask for more food so they kept trying to give me more
food, and I was trying to defend myself and my companion even betrayed
me and went with them and the elders tried to give me watermelon and
Hermano acted all offended that I didn't like the food, but he knew I
was kidding. Ay, Hermano is so funny, and Hermana, I love her so much.
They are hilarious together. I want to be them. Hermana is like our
mom. I didn't get to do the dishes this week, but next week. Hna Burke
tried but she isn't as sneaky as me hahaha, so until next Sunday.

Anyway, life is good. LOVEYOUALL!!!!!!!
Katie

Packages & Knees

Hey!! No packages yet, but the mail hasn't come yet today.  :(
On the upside, I'm finally seeing the doctor for my knee, and I have
at least a 10 dollar co-pay, and I have no money :) I do, but not a
lot, so yeah....if you could bail me out ;) you da best. My
appointment is at 2:30 so if theres money on it before then that'd be
awesome. Haha yeah send my bday one now hahahaha. I am so excited for
my birthday, Elder Ortega is already planning to smash my face in a
cake hahahaha.
Ok, I'll email later again, but we gotta do stuff before my appt.

September 21, 2015

 


Hey!! So YES I DID GET THE PACKAGES!!!!! Thank you so much!!!!!! <3
they made my day. One day I was actually really mad and then came home
and my soccer shoes were waiting for me :)
The doctor's was fine, I told dad all the details. The money? I don't
know haha. I have 5 dollars on my mission account. And I don't have my
sfcu account number, and I haven't looked up those banks yet haha. I need 
to know more things that pertain to my life hahaha like bank info and such. 
It's whatevs.

Da Week

Transfers! District Awesome has been disbanded :( due to the transfer
of our district commander hahaha oh well. It's weird how close you get
to people, like we were literally a family! Oh well, life goes on. We
did an awesome service project and wore our district shirts that we
made together. I got a sweet tan and Hno Perez says I look like a
lamanite. YAS. He and his wife were also talking about mi "color de
voz" so cool, my voice color. Just sounds better in Spanish. Like
everything else haha.

I love Spanish. And I love this branch so much. I'm so glad Hna Burke
and I are staying. This transfer is going to be awesome. We know the
members a lot more and I feel like we will utilize that this transfer
and stuff will explode. Hopefully. That's the plan hahaha.

I really don't know what else to say....I still keep up with my
journal? Hahaha so that's good.

OOHHH we ate with an English member and it was so awesome. Dad he's
kind of like you!!! I felt so at home, and it was so what I needed in
the moment, but after it was so funny to realize why they don't let
missionaries read anything except the mish library haha. We talked
about the Talmud, and how we might have multiple heavenly mothers, and
the false temples, Ham stole the garment, Noah used the stones to
light the ark, the veil in the temple is Jesus Christ. It was just so
cool. So nice and fresh to have something else to think about. And
they make you call them Pat and Brenda, no brother or sister because
would you call God or anyone in heaven, brother Jesus? Brother God?
Hahaha it was cool, it was just nice to find some people out here that
are more like you guys haha, that aren't converts of two years hahaha.
Nothing against the Spanish branch, but sometimes, yeah. Otherwise I
love the Spanish branch, it's a lot of work I see having gone to some
branch councils, but still, it's kind of simple in a way, and it feels
like work. Because we work to help people get ready to make covenants
they haven't made yet, whereas in an English ward, it's just not as
big a deal sometimes, like me getting my endowments-no big deal, but
in the Spanish branch it's huge, and it's nice to see people work
together to take care of other people, to help them save themselves.
This branch is awesome.

The biggest thing this week is just Satan haha. Jasmine who is a
senior in highschool, who finally decided to go on a mission again,
came to church, then missed 3 sundays. We saw her 3 weeks ago, and she
was good, and then she said from that night everything fell apart. She
had a dream that night that she was leaving on her mission and then
someone asked her not to go. They told her not go on her mission, just
a straight clear voice and she said it felt so real. And when she woke
up she just felt sick and confused and like she hasn't even been
living her life how she wants to, and that she doesn't fit in at
church, and her family picks on her for going, and then at church she
doesn't get enough real support. There's no one in her life that she
feels puts her first, and it was so sad, I was so furious that she
felt that way, that Satan had made her feel like that and question so
much and question herself and her self-worth. I don't know. And she
said she's been having dreams about people from the branch about their
lives and marriages falling apart, and they've been messing her up!! I
was so mad!!!!! Satan can give me all the crap dreams he wants, but
not her. We talked for a while. And Sister Burke is a godsend, she is
here for Jasmine, there's no other way to say it, and I am so glad
she's here and that Jasmine has someone like her and it's just such a
blessing. I love missionaries. I love missions. I can't believe I'm
almost half way, can you believe that? Time is crazy. It just goes.

I think Dylan's choice is good. I think it'll work out.

I love you guys! Did you send me a package yet? Hahaha ;) I'll try and
get you a real letter sometime. It's just now I love zone sports so
much.....because we play soccer and I've actually been perfecting my
goalie skills it's kind of hilarious. But it's fun.

LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!

So the district is Elder Ortega from Mexico and who is AMAZING at
soccer, he's 20 but he's like a little brother (he is finishing
training someone this new transfer, a kid from PA) then Elder Jensen
from UT who just finished training Elder Ortega and is now a ZL in
Folsom, super awesome, he's like the super man elder we all want to
be, Me, Comp, Sister Miller from East Sac but now we're really close
:) and Sister Robinson who is really cool from Idaho.