Memorial Day -- 5/30/2012

Hey mommy! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOMORROW!!!
Thanks for the package! I got in on Monday and we have been listening to Cherie Call for the past few days. It's been great! :) I've been telling Sister Sanders about your peanut butter breakfast bars. You can send those if you want... That would be great.Other than that. All is well.

I can't believe that Nikki graduated. That is crazy. She is too young. The pictures really tripped me out. She looks so pretty, as always!
David broke his toe! You're right. That is kind of funnyish :) He is a tough sucker. Did you take pictures at Capitol Reef? I'd love to see some!
PS.... Elder Hill just sent you an email. I don't know what it says so beware!

Zeny's last name is actually Familia. But when she was learning English, she loved the word Forever. Like how Nikki just loved the word Eyelash. So, she always goes by Zeny Forever. Yeah... that was hard. I can't even put into words. We went to the funeral on Saturday. There were two services. The first one was Catholic, and the second one was LDS. Very very VERY different experiences. It really testified to me that our church is true. Not only that, but about 40 members from our ward came to support these two sisters. That is a ward family. I love this ward! They are simply incredible.

M*** and her family (FOUR people) came to church on Sunday.... All by themselves. We were so proud! And we ate at the Wheelwrights again on Sunday night. She made the craziest peanut butter brownie dessert. It was so good!

On Monday, we were unexpectedly dropped by R****. :( He just told us that he didn't want to meet anymore. And while we were trying to help me and convince him to keep visiting with us, I could tell that he had already made up his mind that he wasn't going to stay. R***** isn't ready for the message and this time, but I know he will be later. He said he hasn't been reading the Book of Mormon, and so we challenged him to do that. He said he will, so we will hear from him in a few months. It was rough, but we've experienced a lot of miracles. Also on Monday, after district meeting, we celebrated Memorial Day. We wrote little notes to people we know that have passed away on helium balloons and let them go. It is a tradition for Elder Hill and his family. It was really neat!

So, we are playing "I know that my Redeemer Lives" AKA: "Yo se que vive mi Senor" in Sacrament Meeting on June 10th. We are so excited!

In the summer time here, the humidity is ridiculous. It is so HOT! It is very popular to open up the fire hydrants and play in the water. We've seen about five or broken hydrants and people playing in them. It's so cool!

Oh, and we've heard the song "El Teke Teke" over and over and over again. I love it. You should check it out. I think Nikki would like it a lot.

Well, that's all I have for you this week! I love you so much. I hope that you are all happy, and that David doesn't break any other toes. :)
THE GOSPEL IS TRUE!

Love,

Hna Kindlespire


-guy getting sprayed by fire hydrant
-Sister Sanders with her flute
-Sister Wheelwright's brownie dessert
-my message to Rose Grandpa
-our balloons flying away
-me and the piano <3
-fire hydrant outside our apartment
-my message to Grandma Kimball and Grandmother Bauer

***Note*** we received a great email from Sister Kindlespire's Zone Leader this week and wanted to share it.

"I just wanted to tell you what an amazing missionary daughter you have! I have been privileged to serve her as her Zone Leader and watch her progress so fast over the last couple months. She is an amazing example to everyone here, and is doing so great! She is well protected and watched over by us and her special guardian angels! Thank you for your loving support for her!"
-Elder Hill

The Plan of Salvation -- May 23, 2012

R*** is doing good. We are still meeting with him, but we like to find a classroom in the church now so that we don't get as many interruptions. He asks a lot of questions about things that aren't really important like, "Is the Spirit World here?" "What does your church say about soldiers who have killed other members during war?" That was a hard question to answer. It's been difficult to keep him focused on the the lessons, and the more important answers like... God's character, having faith, feeling the Spirit. The work is good. We found a family last weekend! And we are so excited to start teaching them. They are ready for the gospel, and it's message.

I met a missionary in the MTC who was going to start up the Spanish Program in Kennewick! I can't remember his name, but he was in my zone. So... the Spanish-Speaking Elder in Kennewick knows me. That's really cool! He will love that mission.

Thanks for the package! I'm excited!! Uplifting music is good. Some Broadway plays are okay, some are not. Uplifiting music that invites the Spirit and helps you to stay focused. I wouldn't want to listen to Jekyll and Hyde or Phantom of the Opera, but Beauty and the Beast or Les Miserables, etc. Stuff like that is good. Like I said, we listen to Lion King all the time. You're the greatest! Thank you so much!! I love you!
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I've survived my first transfer in the mission! Sister Sanders and I are staying in Inwood. Elder Head and Elder Bartlett have been transferred upstate. Elder Colton (greenie) is now with Elder Dilling, and Elder Irizarry is now with Elder Hill!

Last Thursday we found a new investigator! Her name is R***. When she first answered the door, she was very closed off. "I'm Catholic, and I won't be baptized into your church." and by the end of our visit she was saying, "The Catholic church doesn't make me happy. I don't agree with everything that it teaches." It was amazing to see how she changed her attitude so quickly! She felt the Spirit while we were there. That's the only answer. It was a really good visit.
We had a dinner appointment with Zeny Forever. She is an amazing member, and she made the most beautiful meal, and delicious too. *

Saturday was incredible! There was a baptism in the morning, and I played the piano for that. That was a lot of fun. And then we went to the Temple for a mission conference with Elder Ronald A Rasband! All 130+ missionaries came and we learned so much. Elder Rasband asked President Smith to choose a new missionary and an old missionary to bear their testimony about their missionary experiences so far. President Smith chose me! It was a little intimidating bearing my testimony to 130 missionaries and a General Authority, but it was fun too. I talked about opening my call and about the people that we are teaching. It was a great meeting. Elder Rasband served here as a young missionary and then as a mission president in 97. He said that he goes throughout the whole world and every mission president tells him that he is in the best mission, and he just nods and smiles, but he himself said that this is the best mission. :)

Sunday we had three investigators at church and two less-actives! It was a wonderful Sunday! We also got the flute that we have been waiting for. We've been filling our time with music practice. We hope to play in sacrament meeting within the next few weeks.

Last night... We were at a dinner with a member as a final get-together before transfers when we found out that Zeny and Angela's Dad had passed away. They are both members in our ward, and we have gotten to know them very well. After dinner, four of us went to the hospital and stayed with them and their family. They are the only members in their family. They took their Dad off life support while we were there and asked Elder Hill to pray. It was a heartbreaking situation to be in. Sister Sanders and I have been teaching the Plan of Salvation to most of our investigators and members for the last two weeks. And it just clicked.... We know God's Plan. Yet in that small room, we were the minority. I just wanted to tell everyone what we have... what they can know... It was quite emotional to be a part of that, but I'm so glad that I was able to be there not as friend to Zeny and Angela, but as a representative of Jesus Christ. Solely to comfort and help... He passed away today in the early afternoon. I know that he has the chance to accept the gospel in the Spirit World, I know that he will be resurrected and that he will have the opportunity to live with God and his family.
I'm grateful for that knowledge! I love this gospel, and I love the Plan of Salvation. We can trust in God's Plan for us and know that we will be with our families, if we do our part. Jesus Christ did his part, and now it's our turn to have faith in Him.

I love you!

Hermana Kindlespire

Pictures:
-The Manhattan Temple!
-Zeny's food!
-My transfer calendar (I'm going to take a picture each cycle and watch it fill up)
-My first mission field district. (Kin, Bartlett, Dilling, Hill, Head, Sanders)
- My MTC Elders at our first transfer. (Ivey, Heywood, Barnard, Kin)

Bigfoot and Baptisms...May 16, 2012

Hey Mom! I'm so excited for Stephanie, I'll have to send her a letter soon. I asked her when she was filling out her papers what mission she thought she would go to and she said the Alpine mission! That girl was right on! That's awesome.

I can't wait to see pictures of Senior Ball. She'll have a blast. And Capitol Reef would be awesome. One of my favorite parks in Utah.

I'm not sure how many people are in the ward. It's seems pretty small compared to the wards I've been a part of... maybe 75 people or so.

So last Wednesday, we taught a lesson to our new investigator. We invited a member to come with us. We all met in the church, which is great. I love having lessons in the church. But our ward has institute on Wednesday nights. 5 members came up to R***, and told their conversion stories and their testimonies. It was great, but a bit intimidating and overwhelming for R***, I think. It was only our second time meeting with him! But it was a lot of fun.

On Saturday, the New York Stake had a Street Fair to help raise money for all the summer camps. We found out that Bigfoot is real (*cough* - daddy)! And he is here in New York (see picture). It was the booth for the boy scouts. How smart is that?? At the fair, they were grilling hamburgers and hotdogs. And being poor, hungry missionaries we hoped that we could get some cheeseburgers for free. But alas, our hopes were dashed! One cheeseburger was 12 tickets, and there was no discount for missionaries. So what did we do? We collected tickets from different members and friends, until we had enough. We were able to get two frozen hot chocolates and two deluxe cheeseburgers! We were really proud of ourselves. We also were able to go to a baptism on Saturday night with C*** and her niece and nephew. It was wonderful! The Spirit was so strong. I love baptisms!

Sunday was a great day. We went to R****'s for dinner. She is my Dominican Mami. And I was able to talk with family! It was good to hear everyone's voices and catch up with everyone.

Monday and Tuesday were good and busy. We've been teaching a lot and have been blessed with an amazing ward to help us.

And Today. What a day! We went to the 9/11 Memorial. It was incredible. It is hard to even comprehend what took place there. I'm grateful that I had the chance to visit the Memorial. It was an amazing experience.

                                         

It was a fun week! This next week is going to be fun too. I've had a lot of unique experiences thus far. Most missionaries have to wait until the end of their missions to experience Time Square and the 9/11 Memorial. I've been very lucky. It's been a lot of fun. But more importantly is the people that I'm meeting, and the lessons that we are teaching. We get so excited to teach the needs of our investigators. We see them all as members of the church. I am excited to watch them progress and gain personal testimonies of the church.

I love you all!                                        

Love,

Hermana Kindlespire

Pictures:
- Us with our free hamburgers
- Us with our tickets, that got us our free hamburgers
- Me and Sarah Draper (please add to facebook!) She was one of my EFY girls
- WTC pictures. Names, Memorial, and The Survival Tree. That tree is an awesome story. You should look it up, if you haven't heard of it.

Times Square -- May 9, 2012

So, this week was really different than all the other weeks so far. Last Thursday, we had a split. Sister Lavaki and I made it through the New York Subways on our own. We both came into the mission on April 10th, so we were a little bit worried that we would find ourselves in Queens, but we did just fine. We did service at the employment center on 14th Street and grabbed some New York Pizza for lunch afterwards. Look at the size of the pizza in my picture! It's bigger than my face! It was delicious.

On Friday we ate quipes for the first time. Daddy.... get on that. I just love Dominican food. I like to think of quipes as fried wheat dumplings. They are really good. We taught a new investigator. We asked him to watch a few videos on mormon.org and write down any questions that he had. He had a long list of questions. We were so impressed! We are meeting with him again today to answer more of his questions. And at the end of english class, we said, "Nos vemos el martes." But he said, "No. Nos vemos el domingo a la iglesia." We were so excited! We accepted that without any complaints. :)

Saturday, we went to Times Square... no big. But actually, yeah. Huge big! After we were done with service, we went to watch the beginning of the race take off. And we actually found ourselves at the beginning of the race. We kept trying to veer to the right to get out of the race, but there were so many people that it took a long time. So, not only was I a volunteer for the Revlon Run/Walk, I was a participant for a few minutes too. We got on the big screen in Times Square.  It was sweet! After Times Square, we came back to Inwood - which felt like such a small community after the crowds of people at Times Square. We had appointment after appointment, and were so exhausted by the end of the day. I slept like a rock that night.

Sunday, we had 4 people at church, including our English student. It was great! C*** has been to all the Young Women activities for the last three weeks (and there have been a lot!) and been attending church faithfully. She really enjoys it. Her mom came too... I can't even express how I felt about that! It was incredible to see her at church. I loved it. We had a less-active come too! It was so great!! I just love church. New faces in church bring so much excitement to the ward. It's a lot of fun.

Well, I better let you go. I love you all. I'm so excited to talk with you on Sunday. Happy Mother's Day.

Love,

Hermana Kin

(Note: the last picture is of all the sister missionaries in the mission with President and Sister Smith. )

Sister Kindlespire -- May 2, 2012

I can hardly wait for Mother's Day! It's going to be so good to hear your voices. And I can talk to anyone that is there... I think. :)
I haven't received your package yet, but I should be receiving it soon. Thanks!! :) I was wondering if you could send "You know better than I", and that classical piano piece that I would play all the time. We live so close to the church and are there at least three times a week. I love playing the piano whenever I get the chance. My companion plays the flute, and she has found someone that will let her borrow one. We are going to find an arrangement that we can both play for sacrament meeting sometime. We are thrilled.

We are excited for the Revlon Run/Walk. Most of the missionaries are going to be in Central Park tomorrow to help out with it. And then everyone will be there at Time Square on Saturday. TIME SQUARE! It's going to be so much fun! We start our service at 6:00am, so it's going to be an early morning for all of us.

Our days are filled with teaching. I'm still getting used to the language. I think I will be trying to get used to it for most of my mission. Our most solid investigator at this time is a sixteen year old girl who prefers to be taught in English. She has a niece and a nephew that stay with her on the weekends. They love meeting with us. We met with them last Saturday and taught them the Plan of Salvation, and invited them to church again. They came! We have 4 investigators at church on Sunday. It was wonderful!! We walked with C*** and her niece and nephew, and on our way J*** was asking all sorts of questions:
"Does God make buildings?"
 "Why is the sky blue? Does God like blue?"
It was so fun to answer his questions and talk about God on our way to church. But my favorite comment he made was about how he wanted to be in the sun with God, because it is brighter and happier than the moon and the stars, relating it back to our Plan of Salvation lesson the day before.

On Sunday the bishop taught the combined meeting and it was all about missionary work. The six missionaries in the ward were thrilled. We've been mentioning it to all the members and encouraging them to do more missionary work. We found two new investigators that seem really interested. We are meeting with one of them tonight and with the other one on Sunday. I'm really excited for them. They both have so much potential and the gospel of Jesus Christ makes their potential unlimited. They will definitely eat up the message. For Sunday dinner we were invited to the Wheelwright's house. They are both originally from Iowa and have lived in Logan, UT for a long time. So we had a lot to talk about! They made mashed potatoes and homemade chicken pasta (IOWA). It was delicious.

On Monday we ate dinner with a member who is from Mexico. We had sopes and memlitas, which I highly recommend. Daddy - I highly recommend them. You must make them... right now. They were delicious!! But I have never been more stuffed in my life. I was not able to finish the food on my plate. I was almost to the point of throwing up because I was so full. She was offended because I didn't finish my food, even though I had three helpings. :( But I think my stomach has been stretched to it's full capacity. Yesterday, we made pasta for lunch and then went to visit a recent convert. While we were there she asked us if we wanted a bit of juice and food. We said sure, but just a little bit. She made us tostones, and rice, and salad, and chicken, and spaghetti (yeah... spaghetti). I couldn't see my plate. But I finished everything. I was really proud of myself. Then we waddled away. So much food!

C*** has come to Young Women's twice. We went again last night, and she had a great time. We taught English again, which is such a blast. I love English class.

Oh! Here is a Dominican Tongue Twister.

Como poco coco como poco coco compro.

Good luck... It's hard. :)

Sorry my email is so long. I just love telling you about everything that is happening. We are having a lot of success. We are getting really close to issuing a few baptismal dates. We have at least one baptism every week in our zone this month. The Lord is working miracles! His work is continuing to go forth and people are continuing to choose to follow His plan. It's a hard decision to make, and it's a different lifestyle to commit it to. But He always provides a way. I Nephi 3:7 I love this gospel, and I love you.

Con Amor,

Hermana Kindlespire

PICTURES:
2. Laura - thanks for my Earth Day Shirt. :)
1. & 3.  Natural History Museum!