"Call me Maybe?"-- 6/26/2012

We've had a really busy week. We had Pday a day early so that we could all meet with President one last time for his final transfer. There were no changes in our district, and only a few in our zone. Sister Asregadoo is going to Kingsbridge with Sister Johnson. And Sister Lotuleilei is headed to Olmstead with Sister T.

Sister Sanders and I will be here until August 15th, and then she will be on her way home! :( I'm "killing her", as they say. But we are going to make it an amazing last transfer together!

We contacted, contacted, and contacted this weekend. It's my goal to just get really comfortable with contacting. Have you heard that new song by Carly Rae something? I never remember her last name. The chorus goes like this: "Hey, I just met you. And this is crazy, but here's my number. So call me maybe." It's all the rage out here, probably over there too. But that's what we do as missionaries. Ask random people that we just met to give us a call. Yeah... it's a little uncomfortable, but I know with time I will get good at it. And again... doing it in Spanish. That makes it tricky too. But I prefer it in Spanish more than in English. Weird, right?

M*** R**** has finally committed to a baptismal date! And what date is it? June 30th... That's right! She's getting baptized in four days! We are thrilled. She has been investigating for 10 months, and coming to church every Sunday. We are so happy that she has finally made the decision to take this leap of faith and join the church!

A quick experience we had this week. We were teaching a new investigator named A**. We were talking about Truth. A** asked us, "What is the truth?". I began thinking of big complicated answers, like "The Doctrines that Christ taught while he was here are the truth." "The revelation that we receive from the Holy Ghost is the truth." Sister Sanders, in her 17 months of missionary experience (She's such a pro) said, "I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saint is true." It was amazing to me how simple her reply was. So simple! What a beautiful testimony she has. I'm grateful for her and what I have learned from her so far.

Love you all! Have a great Tuesday!

Love,

Hermana Kindlespire

Happy Birthday Hermana Kindlespire 6/20/2012

We had a pretty slow week last week. Hna Sanders caught a really bad cold that knocked her out for three days. And yet, somehow we were able to reach our goals. But, I spent a lot of time inside drawing and sleeping and decorating stuff, and reading El Libro de Mormon a lot.

Last Pday we walked the entire length of Central Park.... That's a lot of walking! We stopped and bought waffles and dinges. My waffle was delicious! Nutella, walnuts, bananas, and fudge. 
We had dinner with a Peruvian brother. He made lomo saltado. I highly recommend it. Just make it with a side of rice. Super yummy!
Our investigator, M****, has started feeding us everytime we are over at her place, which is usually three times a week. This past week, she fed us rice and shrimp, mongu, and she made habichuela con dulce for my birthday.

Speaking of my birthday! We had a great time! Sister Sanders decorated my desk with a banner and confetti. So sweet! We had zone  conference at the temple. It was our last meeting with President Smith. I got your amazing package! We went to coldstone after the meeting. We invited all the young women to the church to have pazookies with us. It was a very fun time!

Today we are heading to the Yankees/Braves game! Honestly, I'm only going for the nachos. But we are sure to have a fun time!

I love you all! Thanks for your love and support! This church is true. It just makes sense.... Being a missionary is hard work, but it's a wonderful thing to be!

Love,

Hermana Kindlespire

Pictures this week:
*C*** and I celebrating my Birthday
*Hna Sanders and I in Central Park
*Waffle & Dinges!
*People at the Birthday Party
*Pazookies
*Yankee Stadium

6/13/2012

We had a great week. It went by so fast!

We found 3 new investigators last week.... A little family. We are excited to continue to teach them. They've had a lot of experience with missionaries, but they've always made a connection with the missionaries, and never with the gospel. So that's my focus this next week.
Hna Sanders and I started a Quote Board... It is hilarious! I'm going to send an email sometime with just quotes. We have crazy experiences everyday.
We helped out some English Sisters with a booth that they set up. I went tracting down on 49th Street, on the East Side... It's a different world over there. It was Sister Lee, Sister Lavaki, and I. While we were tracting, we ran into someone that only speaks Spanish. Sister Lee and Lavaki are English sisters. I took over and contacted her in Spanish, by myself! And it went really well! It was my first time all on my own. It was good to know that I can do this!
That night, I taught an indexing class... most of it in Spanish. It was difficult, but it was a lot of fun! I could index for hours!
We played our musical number on Sunday. We hoped to have all of our investigators come, but only 2 were able to make it. But, that's 2. The number went great. My first time playing the piano in sacrament meeting! We ate dinner with The Wheelwrights again. Homemade scones that would make you drool! They were delicious!
We've been teaching a lot... and invited M**** to pray about baptism. This is a big deal! She has been nervous about baptism since we started teaching her. But she took the invitation about I'm sure she has been praying. This woman is incredible. She is the mother of C***. She reads the Book of Mormon everyday, and loves attending church.

I had a good experience with language study this week! So, I'll read el libro de mormon and when I don't recognize a word, I'll look it up in the book of mormon and write it in my spanish copy. I was reading 2 Nephi 26:22, and had to look up the word for flax, thinking... "Why would I ever need to know this word?". That night, M**** went shopping and was unpacking her groceries and she had bought "lino".... "flax". What is the chance? It was really awesome to know that I learned that word in the Book of Mormon!
The Book of Mormon teaches us things about God and teaches us things about... flax. Temporal things. You will never run out of things to learn in the Book of Mormon. That Book is not just another book. It's answers.

I love you so much! Thanks for the Birthday Wishes! I'm excited to celebrate here in New York. Thanks for the package! It should get it the day before :)

I love you!

Love,

Hna Kindlespire

Stuck in an Elevator -- 6/6/12

We are excited for our plans this week. Before English Class on Friday, we are going to teach an Indexing class! I love indexing, and I'm excited to help out. I hope that I can explain it in Spanish... and that the program hasn't changed too much since the last time that I indexed. Our invesitgator, C***, is living the Word of Wisdom (WAHOO!). We are thrilled!
So on Sunday, our dinner appointment cancelled. So the elders and us decided that we would make our own dinner. We gathered everything that we could and ate it.... Our dinner consisted of hot dogs, walnuts, mashed potatoes, tater tots, cheeseburgers, chilli, pasta, and brownies. Yeah... It took us a while to recover from that meal. It was a lot of fun though!

Yesterday was zone conference. It was awesome! We learned so much, and ate such good food! But the craziest part of the day was right before zone conference started. 12 people piled in the elevator, which should have been able to hold 20 people. But we didn't even make it down one floor before the elevator got stuck. We were stuck for about 15 minutes, before we were able to pry open the doors and get out. It was quite the experience... 10 elders.... 2 sisters in one elevator is far too many. Hna Sanders and I haven't been back in an elevator yet. Give us a few days. :)

That's about all that's happened this week. And throughout all this, we continue to teach and work hard. We find lots of people and we do most of that in Spanish. It's great!

I love you! Hope you have a good week!

Love,

Hermana Kindlespire

-dinner on Sunday
-trying to break through the elevator