Hola Familia!
I am sorry to hear that so many of you were sick this week. Hopefully you will be all back to normal soon. Hermana Cruz was sick yesterday, so we had to stay in the apartment all day. It was kind of a bummer because we didn't get to see our investigators or the ward members at church. She was feeling pretty good by about 4pm, but per mission rules we have to stay in the apartment for 24 hours after being sick. So we watched some of the old LDS videos and munched on some popcorn. Hermana Cruz probably thinks I am weird because I went through about 60 Ensign magazines yesterday looking for pictures and reading different articles. She was going a little stir-crazy by the evening with boredom, but apparently I am good at entertaining myself or I just have so much more stuff to study and prepare still, so I wasn't too bored yesterday. Anyway, this week was a little short because of the late email last week and then not being able to go out yesterday.
I think a good way to describe Spanish right now is that I am floating. I think the stages of learning a language are drowning, floating, swimming and finally Michael Phelps style. So for floating, I can follow conversations and I am not completely lost, but I haven't reached the point where I just jump in and participate fully. When I feel like I can communicate and say what I want to say when I want to say it then I will be swimming. When I can sell 4 stake girls camp leaders a log in Spanish for their first born son then I will have reached Michael Phelps status! :-D I think the hardest part is understanding and then not having the right words of comfort to be able to respond. So right now I'll have to just listen and Hermana Cruz will offer the words of comfort.
So... my little enemigo. The cockroach has gone into hiding. He was chillin up on the ceiling the last time I saw him (of course out of my reach) and he hasn't been seen in a few days. I think he is just lulling me into a false sense of security before him and his buddies try to take over the apartment! I did win one this week. There was a huge roach on the wall in our living room. The biggest one I have seen. I manned up took my shoe off and gave it a good whack. A disgusting, but satisfying crunching sound followed. I guess the bright side is that there are no spiders. (knock on wood)
We do different types of service throughout the week. It feels good just to help someone do their dishes or vacuum their floors. Every Monday we have breakfast with a member in our stake. He is very nice and feeds 6 missionaries and we in turn provide different types of services for him. This week we helped organize some of the names from his family history. He has drawers and drawers filled with names. I was very impressed.
Being a missionary you get to experience lots of different things. I had a good laugh this week with someone trying to hide from us. We made contact with a lady and set up a return appointment. She wasn't there for the appointment, so later that evening we stopped by again. She has a son who is probably about 13 or so. When we walked up the lane, we could see him in the living room. When we knocked on the door, we heard the lady talking on the phone and saying that she would call them back later. The lights were on in this room and the blinds were closed looking from the inside, but open enough from the outside that we could see into the room. The son walked into the same room and then proceeded to crawl to the window and then look from the bottom cracks to see who it was. We were doing our best to not laugh and to pretend not to see him crawl away from the window and tell his mother who was at the door. He then came and answered the door and we asked if his mom was there. He said that she wasn't there right now and that she was at the gym. Hermana Cruz asked what time she would be back and he said that she would be back around 11pm and we should come back tomorrow. We said thank you and headed back to our car. We were impressed by her commitment to fitness because it was only 7pm, so she was going to be at the gym for another 4 hours. Oh the excuses people will come up with...you just have to laugh a little and keep on working. :)
I don't think I told you about my little success last week. We had an appointment fall through, so we decided to try and find an old investigator. We couldn't find her address (it didn't exist) so we were knocking on doors in the apartment complex. That is the hardest part for me. I am always a little nervous that they will say something that I won't understand, so Hermana Cruz does most of the talking. We hadn't found anyone so we were getting back into the car to head to our next appointment. I was once again getting the pleasure of backing the car up... I think I should go buy some glow sticks at the dollar store, so one night when I am backing up the car I can do it with glow sticks! I think that would be much more fun! Back to the story... so Hermana Cruz was getting settled and there was a lady throwing away some garbage and I just felt something and I knew I needed to open my mouth. I called over to her and asked her how her day was. We started with a some introductions and I was explaining who we are and the whole time my mind was pleading for Hermana Cruz to quickly get out the car and join me before this nice lady asked me something and I would just smile blankly. Luckily Hermana Cruz did make it out of the car in time and we ended up having a nice 15 or so minute conversation with her. She invited us to back in a few days to share a message with her. I felt good that I had stepped outside my comfort zone and I had been successful. So we went back a few days later. We decided to teach her the Plan of Salvation. She was really interested in the questions of where we came from, why were are here and where we are going. She had some great questions that we were able to answer and it was one of the best lessons that we have taught. The whole time we were teaching her the spirit was so strong. It was like someone was sitting there with us just radiating a warm, peaceful feeling of love. It's in moments like these that you just know that we have a heavenly father who loves us and he wants us to return to live with him some day.
I love all of you so much. Have another fantastic week and smile because there are no cockroaches in your houses!
Con Amor,
Hermana Klaus
"And it came to pass..."
Monday, January 28, 2013
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Week 13
Hola Familia!
Yep it's official I can hardly remember what week I am on... Another great week in the mission field. Being a missionary is a lot of work and I don't remember when I have ever fallen asleep faster at night! I think it usually takes me two minutes to fall asleep after climbing into bed. It doesn't hurt that the beds we have are super comfy either.
Hmmm so some highlights from the week. Since Monday was a holiday the libraries were closed, so that's why my email is a little later this week. We had a stake activity in the morning on missionary life for the youth. It was weird being the missionary when for so many years I was the youth! They gave us a big round of applause for giving up part of our P-day to come and teach them. I definitely miss teaching big groups of kids and was in my element teaching about teaching. And it was in English, so I could say everything I wanted to say. The zone leaders are funny. They tell me that they think I came pre-trained. All I did was help our district have a little structure in our lesson planning...sigh the teacher in me couldn't handle a half-hearted lesson plan, so I helped create an outline for us to use. So then they kept saying Sister Klaus is going to be the first female district leader. Haha I'm good just being a missionary. :) So the training went well, but it also made me miss Kara because if she were living in El Paso she would have been at the activity with me.
An update on the cockroach situation... I am in an all out warfare with a cockroach in our bathroom. I first noticed him about 3am when I flipped on the light. I silently freaked out, so as not to wake Hermana Cruz and trapped him under the hairspray bottle so I could figure out what to do in the morning. When I remembered him in the morning I was ready to squash him, but when I picked up the can, he skittered so fast across the counter that I didn't get him! Arrgh! Now he taunts me and comes out and runs back into his little hole under the sink before I can kill him. He knows I am on the hunt, but he also takes particular pleasure in scaring me when I turn on the light. Grrr I am angry at that little creature right now! I know we had that lesson about bugs being God's decorations, but they can decorate the outside world, not my apartment. In the apartment they are fair game to kill on sight!
In other animal news. We were almost eaten by a chihuahua. Haha actually we opened this gate and walked in and this little chihuahua came around the corner and I think it nearly had a heart attack when we looked it's direction. We also went and visited an investigator who has probably 75 snakes, rats, mice, and other assorted vermin. Hermana Cruz and I held a gross pink baby mouse and a pretty cute little rat. I was especially happy because we had a great Spanish conversation on snakes that night in the car and I really am starting to be able to say lots of different things.
On Monday we were invited to have family home evening with a family in our ward. After a lesson on listening to the holy ghost, we had a short activity in which we played a game with the family. I was a little nervous because I wasn't really sure I would be able to participate, but it turned out I could. We played the game were you act out a movie title and your team has to guess the title of the movie. The movie I drew was el bueno, el mal, y el feo (the good, the bad, and the ugly) So I started by trying to make a halo followed by some devil horns. For ugly I was a little stumped and kind of did a weird twisted face/ zombie pose. Basically I looked ridiculous and could hardly finish because of laughter. Sadly my team did not guess my movie, but afterwards they understood my actions... However, they did tell me that the next time I am in church giving a talk or something they are all going to be sitting making my "ugly" pose at me. Yep I can just picture it in my mind and the bishop looking down at this family and thinking what on earth is wrong with them! Haha it was really fun FHE.
I find that dinner each night is also a game. You are not really sure what you are going to eat and you just hope it is good. I really like most everything I am fed. One of the investigators told me that I am a real mexicana because I like spicy food. We are having dinner with them tomorrow and she is planning on making spicy food, so hopefully I can live up to my reputation of liking spicy foods! Ha and to think I used to make you leave me out plain taco meat because I thought it was too spicy. Que divertido! I probably will have to buy big cans of chili when I get home because everything will be bland without my spice!
With all the fun things that happen during the week, I never forget the real reason I am out here. I know that this is the Lord's work because there has been little instance after little instance where the spirit has directed Hermana Cruz and me in our day to day activities. Just last night we had two of our plans fall through, so we were both pondering on who we should visit and we both thought of the same person's name. We ended up having a great visit and her boyfriend who is not a member was there, so we were able to introduce him to the church and the book of mormon. It's little things like this that let me know that we really are being inspired by the spirit of the Lord. I can't describe enough what a great blessing serving a mission is. Sometimes it seems like nothing is working and then all of the sudden we have a great lesson or find a new investigator. There is nothing like feeling the spirit testify of the truthfulness of this message to those that we meet and each everyday. I hope everyone has a great week.
Con Amor,
Hermana Klaus
I am so excited to hear where Katy Vance is going on her mission! You will never regret the decision to serve a mission!
Yep it's official I can hardly remember what week I am on... Another great week in the mission field. Being a missionary is a lot of work and I don't remember when I have ever fallen asleep faster at night! I think it usually takes me two minutes to fall asleep after climbing into bed. It doesn't hurt that the beds we have are super comfy either.
Hmmm so some highlights from the week. Since Monday was a holiday the libraries were closed, so that's why my email is a little later this week. We had a stake activity in the morning on missionary life for the youth. It was weird being the missionary when for so many years I was the youth! They gave us a big round of applause for giving up part of our P-day to come and teach them. I definitely miss teaching big groups of kids and was in my element teaching about teaching. And it was in English, so I could say everything I wanted to say. The zone leaders are funny. They tell me that they think I came pre-trained. All I did was help our district have a little structure in our lesson planning...sigh the teacher in me couldn't handle a half-hearted lesson plan, so I helped create an outline for us to use. So then they kept saying Sister Klaus is going to be the first female district leader. Haha I'm good just being a missionary. :) So the training went well, but it also made me miss Kara because if she were living in El Paso she would have been at the activity with me.
An update on the cockroach situation... I am in an all out warfare with a cockroach in our bathroom. I first noticed him about 3am when I flipped on the light. I silently freaked out, so as not to wake Hermana Cruz and trapped him under the hairspray bottle so I could figure out what to do in the morning. When I remembered him in the morning I was ready to squash him, but when I picked up the can, he skittered so fast across the counter that I didn't get him! Arrgh! Now he taunts me and comes out and runs back into his little hole under the sink before I can kill him. He knows I am on the hunt, but he also takes particular pleasure in scaring me when I turn on the light. Grrr I am angry at that little creature right now! I know we had that lesson about bugs being God's decorations, but they can decorate the outside world, not my apartment. In the apartment they are fair game to kill on sight!
In other animal news. We were almost eaten by a chihuahua. Haha actually we opened this gate and walked in and this little chihuahua came around the corner and I think it nearly had a heart attack when we looked it's direction. We also went and visited an investigator who has probably 75 snakes, rats, mice, and other assorted vermin. Hermana Cruz and I held a gross pink baby mouse and a pretty cute little rat. I was especially happy because we had a great Spanish conversation on snakes that night in the car and I really am starting to be able to say lots of different things.
On Monday we were invited to have family home evening with a family in our ward. After a lesson on listening to the holy ghost, we had a short activity in which we played a game with the family. I was a little nervous because I wasn't really sure I would be able to participate, but it turned out I could. We played the game were you act out a movie title and your team has to guess the title of the movie. The movie I drew was el bueno, el mal, y el feo (the good, the bad, and the ugly) So I started by trying to make a halo followed by some devil horns. For ugly I was a little stumped and kind of did a weird twisted face/ zombie pose. Basically I looked ridiculous and could hardly finish because of laughter. Sadly my team did not guess my movie, but afterwards they understood my actions... However, they did tell me that the next time I am in church giving a talk or something they are all going to be sitting making my "ugly" pose at me. Yep I can just picture it in my mind and the bishop looking down at this family and thinking what on earth is wrong with them! Haha it was really fun FHE.
I find that dinner each night is also a game. You are not really sure what you are going to eat and you just hope it is good. I really like most everything I am fed. One of the investigators told me that I am a real mexicana because I like spicy food. We are having dinner with them tomorrow and she is planning on making spicy food, so hopefully I can live up to my reputation of liking spicy foods! Ha and to think I used to make you leave me out plain taco meat because I thought it was too spicy. Que divertido! I probably will have to buy big cans of chili when I get home because everything will be bland without my spice!
With all the fun things that happen during the week, I never forget the real reason I am out here. I know that this is the Lord's work because there has been little instance after little instance where the spirit has directed Hermana Cruz and me in our day to day activities. Just last night we had two of our plans fall through, so we were both pondering on who we should visit and we both thought of the same person's name. We ended up having a great visit and her boyfriend who is not a member was there, so we were able to introduce him to the church and the book of mormon. It's little things like this that let me know that we really are being inspired by the spirit of the Lord. I can't describe enough what a great blessing serving a mission is. Sometimes it seems like nothing is working and then all of the sudden we have a great lesson or find a new investigator. There is nothing like feeling the spirit testify of the truthfulness of this message to those that we meet and each everyday. I hope everyone has a great week.
Con Amor,
Hermana Klaus
I am so excited to hear where Katy Vance is going on her mission! You will never regret the decision to serve a mission!
Monday, January 14, 2013
Week 12
Hola Familia y Amigos,
Time is very different on the mission. I can't believe another week has already passed. The days seem really long, but the weeks are so short! I love being busy and helping people.
So this week was my birthday. It was very different than any other birthday I've ever had. It was a strange day because Hermana Cruz had training from 9am-3pm so I went on my first split. That morning President and Sister Miller called and sang happy birthday to me. I got the added bonus of getting a hug from Sister Miller because we saw her later that day. Anyway, we drove up to Las Cruces and I spent that time with two other sisters and we went contacting people who had previously been investigating the Church. It takes a lot of courage to be a missionary and not be afraid to talk to everyone that you meet, especially when there is a language barrier. We did however talk to a very nice lady on the street with her 4 kids and set up an appointment later in the week to teach her. It is a little sad that I don't get to know what happens to the people you find on exchanges because it's not in my area and I won't be teaching them.
After we finished the training we came back down to El Paso and had to have a very quick, but yummy dinner with a sister in our ward because we were suppose to be helping a lady move. We didn't even have time to change our clothes, so we just carried tables, chairs and boxes down the stairs in our skirts. Then we had a few lessons planned, so we visited taught and them. We also had a correlation meeting with the ward mission leader. Finally we got back to the apartment a little after 9 and after planning I was able to open my gifts. I love the new bag! It is a great color and I am already putting it to good use. When you basically live out of a little bag all day it's nice that it has lots of little pockets to keep everything divided. The small outside pocket is perfect to keep all of my passalong cards in for easy access. Everything else was great too, so thank you so much! So kind of a different birthday, but I received lots of well wishes and it always brings great joy serving others.
El Paso is great. I have a great ward and the members are so nice. It is fun getting to eat with different members and meeting them and talking about their lives. Which reminds me, make sure you are feeding the missionaries up there, so members will feed me down here. That is the philosophy of Hermana Cruz's mother. :-) We have several investigators but all at very different stages. Even though I have only known them for a short time, I already am so close to many of them and all I want is the best for them. We had a lesson where the lady was feeling a little down and was worried about coming to church, but we read several scriptures together and just expressed how much we loved her. She ended up coming to church yesterday and we sat with her and her children and you could tell she enjoyed the services.
Yesterday was a hard day. We kept trying and trying to find new investigators, but nothing was really working out. Hermana Cruz and I said a prayer and a name of a referral came to mind. We had set an appointment the day before, but no one was home when we showed up. So we decided to try again. Their daughter answered the door and said her parents were next door and didn't know when they would be back. We were just chatting for a few minutes and her mom showed up and invited us inside. We shared a brief message about the Book of Mormon and talked about the importance of families. They invited to us come back later this week and begin teaching them about the gospel, so it was a blessing from the Lord to find two new investigators after a long day of searching.
Hmm there is so much to remember as a missionary sometimes it is hard to keep straight everything. Ok so fun story. This week I was reassured that the Lord has sent me to the right mission because Wednesday night I was writing in my journal and I looked up and perched on our door was a cockroach! It was gross. I tried to get Hermana Cruz to kill it. I told her that she was the senior companion so she should have to get rid of it, but she was all for just leaving it be. I knew that I would not sleep one wink with a cockroach in our apartment, so after man-ing up and a few girly squeals later I succeeded in killing the nasty bug. I would not have survived in a place that had bugs of various shapes and sizes in the apartments. The Lord knows me too well. I should confess that I squealed even though this cockroach was not huge, but in my defense it wasn't tiny either!
I also have to mention that my amazing sister is inspired! In more ways than one... So I got your birthday package, Kristi, and it was very nice. I laughed because on Monday in the store I stared at the nutella on the middle shelf and was so tempted to get some, but I decided that it was expensive and I didn't need all of that, so I was delighted to find all those nutella to go packs. The other inspiration was sending me a Tide to go pen. When I opened it, I was sitting at my desk and I almost went back to my room and stuck it in my drawer, but then slipped it into my bag instead. The next day we were having a lunch-ish snack with a few recent converts. It was my favorite - hotdogs! :) I put a nice helping of ketchup on my hot dog and I went to take a bite, but because the bun was a little crunchy when I bit into it the hot dog popped out and landed right on my shirt. It left a beautiful red stain and we didn't have time to go back to the apartment and change, but thankfully I had my new tide to go pen and managed to get rid of most of the stain! So Yay for awesome sisters!
That was my week. I am doing everything I can to learn the language and serve these people with all my heart, might, mind and strength. I know that this is the Lord's work and that He is the one directing it. I feel so many blessings already from missionary service and I know that I am never going to be the same!
Lots of love to all of you!
Con Amor,
Hermana Klaus
p.s
Even after Christmas, when people meet me for the first time, they joke about Santa Claus! hehe
Time is very different on the mission. I can't believe another week has already passed. The days seem really long, but the weeks are so short! I love being busy and helping people.
So this week was my birthday. It was very different than any other birthday I've ever had. It was a strange day because Hermana Cruz had training from 9am-3pm so I went on my first split. That morning President and Sister Miller called and sang happy birthday to me. I got the added bonus of getting a hug from Sister Miller because we saw her later that day. Anyway, we drove up to Las Cruces and I spent that time with two other sisters and we went contacting people who had previously been investigating the Church. It takes a lot of courage to be a missionary and not be afraid to talk to everyone that you meet, especially when there is a language barrier. We did however talk to a very nice lady on the street with her 4 kids and set up an appointment later in the week to teach her. It is a little sad that I don't get to know what happens to the people you find on exchanges because it's not in my area and I won't be teaching them.
After we finished the training we came back down to El Paso and had to have a very quick, but yummy dinner with a sister in our ward because we were suppose to be helping a lady move. We didn't even have time to change our clothes, so we just carried tables, chairs and boxes down the stairs in our skirts. Then we had a few lessons planned, so we visited taught and them. We also had a correlation meeting with the ward mission leader. Finally we got back to the apartment a little after 9 and after planning I was able to open my gifts. I love the new bag! It is a great color and I am already putting it to good use. When you basically live out of a little bag all day it's nice that it has lots of little pockets to keep everything divided. The small outside pocket is perfect to keep all of my passalong cards in for easy access. Everything else was great too, so thank you so much! So kind of a different birthday, but I received lots of well wishes and it always brings great joy serving others.
El Paso is great. I have a great ward and the members are so nice. It is fun getting to eat with different members and meeting them and talking about their lives. Which reminds me, make sure you are feeding the missionaries up there, so members will feed me down here. That is the philosophy of Hermana Cruz's mother. :-) We have several investigators but all at very different stages. Even though I have only known them for a short time, I already am so close to many of them and all I want is the best for them. We had a lesson where the lady was feeling a little down and was worried about coming to church, but we read several scriptures together and just expressed how much we loved her. She ended up coming to church yesterday and we sat with her and her children and you could tell she enjoyed the services.
Yesterday was a hard day. We kept trying and trying to find new investigators, but nothing was really working out. Hermana Cruz and I said a prayer and a name of a referral came to mind. We had set an appointment the day before, but no one was home when we showed up. So we decided to try again. Their daughter answered the door and said her parents were next door and didn't know when they would be back. We were just chatting for a few minutes and her mom showed up and invited us inside. We shared a brief message about the Book of Mormon and talked about the importance of families. They invited to us come back later this week and begin teaching them about the gospel, so it was a blessing from the Lord to find two new investigators after a long day of searching.
Hmm there is so much to remember as a missionary sometimes it is hard to keep straight everything. Ok so fun story. This week I was reassured that the Lord has sent me to the right mission because Wednesday night I was writing in my journal and I looked up and perched on our door was a cockroach! It was gross. I tried to get Hermana Cruz to kill it. I told her that she was the senior companion so she should have to get rid of it, but she was all for just leaving it be. I knew that I would not sleep one wink with a cockroach in our apartment, so after man-ing up and a few girly squeals later I succeeded in killing the nasty bug. I would not have survived in a place that had bugs of various shapes and sizes in the apartments. The Lord knows me too well. I should confess that I squealed even though this cockroach was not huge, but in my defense it wasn't tiny either!
I also have to mention that my amazing sister is inspired! In more ways than one... So I got your birthday package, Kristi, and it was very nice. I laughed because on Monday in the store I stared at the nutella on the middle shelf and was so tempted to get some, but I decided that it was expensive and I didn't need all of that, so I was delighted to find all those nutella to go packs. The other inspiration was sending me a Tide to go pen. When I opened it, I was sitting at my desk and I almost went back to my room and stuck it in my drawer, but then slipped it into my bag instead. The next day we were having a lunch-ish snack with a few recent converts. It was my favorite - hotdogs! :) I put a nice helping of ketchup on my hot dog and I went to take a bite, but because the bun was a little crunchy when I bit into it the hot dog popped out and landed right on my shirt. It left a beautiful red stain and we didn't have time to go back to the apartment and change, but thankfully I had my new tide to go pen and managed to get rid of most of the stain! So Yay for awesome sisters!
That was my week. I am doing everything I can to learn the language and serve these people with all my heart, might, mind and strength. I know that this is the Lord's work and that He is the one directing it. I feel so many blessings already from missionary service and I know that I am never going to be the same!
Lots of love to all of you!
Con Amor,
Hermana Klaus
p.s
Even after Christmas, when people meet me for the first time, they joke about Santa Claus! hehe
Monday, January 7, 2013
Week 11
Hola!
Whew what a week! I can't believe that I am out and about being a real missionary! Our schedule is busy. We prepare for the day and then have personal study, companion study, newbie training, and language study in the morning. Then after a quick lunch we head out. We visit and teach investigators and less active members. Then we normally have dinner around 5pm. We spend the next few hours teaching some more and we return to the apartment around 9pm. We plan for our next days activities until around 9:30 and then get ready for bed and are generally in bed by 10:15. Then the day starts all over again! It's good that we are kept so busy, but it makes time fly so quickly.
All of our investigators are so different. We have some married older couples and some young single adults. They all come from different backgrounds and experiences. I love getting to know them although sometimes when we get back into the car I look at my companion and ask "Now what just happened?!" JeJe, Spanish can be hard when people go off on these topics with vocabulary I have never heard before.
Texas is great. It's not as flat as I would have expected, or at least the part of Texas that I am in has lots of hills. I think as of right now I have about 3 streets I can recognize - maybe... Two days ago we were driving around looking for this street and our map wasn't offering much help. I had this flashback to when I used to drive around Utah giving live animal shows and without fail I would have to call my dad and ask for additional help in finding the schools. I am so helpless with directions! We did eventually find the street we were looking for, so all is well. I was also expecting Texas to be nice and warm, but it has been freezing this week. We had two days of snow, but it didn't really stick on the ground very much. Both Hermana Cruz and I would be freezing standing on people's porches waiting for them to answer the door. Worse for me, as per mission rules, whenever you back up the car the passenger has to stand behind the car and help them back up. So I had to stand out in the cold even longer looking very weird backing up a car. I don't mind it most of the time, but we have received a few strange looks in the Walmart parking lot when I am helping Hermana Cruz back up the car. Oh the life of a missionary.
To go along with the freezing weather, church was an ice box. Everyone was wearing heavy coats and scarfs, but I only had a light sweater. Hna Cruz and I were shivering in the back. The Bishop on the stand was rubbing his hands together and blowing on them, to try and keep them warm. Since it was fast Sunday I went up and bore my testimony. I am not sure if I was shaking because I was nervous or because I was cold, but I'm going to go with the latter. Anyway I get up to start and I say "buenos..." and my mind went blank. I couldn't figure out if it was late enough to be tardes and when I decided to go with the morning salutation I couldn't remember it. I kept thinking buenos mañanas but I knew that wasn't right. Thankfully the bishop supplied me with buenos dias. I guess my Spanish could only go up from there and it did. People are all really shocked to learn that this is my first transfer, so that must mean I must be saying something right. The rest of Church was slightly warmer and I enjoyed listening to all of the meetings. Even though I don't understand everything it is the same spirit and love in this ward as in an English ward.
Some of the interesting highlights of the week. At one of our dinner appointments I asked if I could use the restroom. They led me back and pointed to a door. When I walked in it was really dark, but I heard this scuffling sound and snuffling. When I flipped on the light these two baby Chihuahuas popped their heads out of the bathtub! It was very distracting trying to use the bathroom with two little puppies madly trying to escape the bathtub. Oh the other funny story was last night we went and visited a sister in the ward who just lost her sister. We went there to offer some words of comfort and to let her know we were here to help in anyway that we can. After our visit, the sister who drove us to the appointment took us all back to her house and we had a traditional Mexican Bread. (I can't remember the exact name, but it's like rosca de reyes or something like that) Everyone serves themselves and when I cut off my piece much to my surprise a baby Jesus figurine fell out of my piece. All of the people there were delighted at my reaction and jokingly told me that I was now suppose to make tamales. I would love to make tamales, but I do not know how! Hmmm maybe on some p-day I can find someone to teach me.
The food story of the week. I have been enjoying most of the food. Even food that I wouldn't have eaten before my mission isn't too bad. On Saturday I had Mole for the first time...yeah... I ate it and was grateful for the meal, but I think that there is a time for chocolate and a time for chili and we'll just leave it at that. :-)
The best part of the mission is teaching the people and loving them. It's amazing the love I feel for people that I have just met. I see them for who they are: sons and daughters of God. I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve the Lord.
So that's about all for this week. I hope everyone had a great week. I am praying for everyone back home. I love you all!
Con Amor,
Hermana Klaus
Whew what a week! I can't believe that I am out and about being a real missionary! Our schedule is busy. We prepare for the day and then have personal study, companion study, newbie training, and language study in the morning. Then after a quick lunch we head out. We visit and teach investigators and less active members. Then we normally have dinner around 5pm. We spend the next few hours teaching some more and we return to the apartment around 9pm. We plan for our next days activities until around 9:30 and then get ready for bed and are generally in bed by 10:15. Then the day starts all over again! It's good that we are kept so busy, but it makes time fly so quickly.
All of our investigators are so different. We have some married older couples and some young single adults. They all come from different backgrounds and experiences. I love getting to know them although sometimes when we get back into the car I look at my companion and ask "Now what just happened?!" JeJe, Spanish can be hard when people go off on these topics with vocabulary I have never heard before.
Texas is great. It's not as flat as I would have expected, or at least the part of Texas that I am in has lots of hills. I think as of right now I have about 3 streets I can recognize - maybe... Two days ago we were driving around looking for this street and our map wasn't offering much help. I had this flashback to when I used to drive around Utah giving live animal shows and without fail I would have to call my dad and ask for additional help in finding the schools. I am so helpless with directions! We did eventually find the street we were looking for, so all is well. I was also expecting Texas to be nice and warm, but it has been freezing this week. We had two days of snow, but it didn't really stick on the ground very much. Both Hermana Cruz and I would be freezing standing on people's porches waiting for them to answer the door. Worse for me, as per mission rules, whenever you back up the car the passenger has to stand behind the car and help them back up. So I had to stand out in the cold even longer looking very weird backing up a car. I don't mind it most of the time, but we have received a few strange looks in the Walmart parking lot when I am helping Hermana Cruz back up the car. Oh the life of a missionary.
To go along with the freezing weather, church was an ice box. Everyone was wearing heavy coats and scarfs, but I only had a light sweater. Hna Cruz and I were shivering in the back. The Bishop on the stand was rubbing his hands together and blowing on them, to try and keep them warm. Since it was fast Sunday I went up and bore my testimony. I am not sure if I was shaking because I was nervous or because I was cold, but I'm going to go with the latter. Anyway I get up to start and I say "buenos..." and my mind went blank. I couldn't figure out if it was late enough to be tardes and when I decided to go with the morning salutation I couldn't remember it. I kept thinking buenos mañanas but I knew that wasn't right. Thankfully the bishop supplied me with buenos dias. I guess my Spanish could only go up from there and it did. People are all really shocked to learn that this is my first transfer, so that must mean I must be saying something right. The rest of Church was slightly warmer and I enjoyed listening to all of the meetings. Even though I don't understand everything it is the same spirit and love in this ward as in an English ward.
Some of the interesting highlights of the week. At one of our dinner appointments I asked if I could use the restroom. They led me back and pointed to a door. When I walked in it was really dark, but I heard this scuffling sound and snuffling. When I flipped on the light these two baby Chihuahuas popped their heads out of the bathtub! It was very distracting trying to use the bathroom with two little puppies madly trying to escape the bathtub. Oh the other funny story was last night we went and visited a sister in the ward who just lost her sister. We went there to offer some words of comfort and to let her know we were here to help in anyway that we can. After our visit, the sister who drove us to the appointment took us all back to her house and we had a traditional Mexican Bread. (I can't remember the exact name, but it's like rosca de reyes or something like that) Everyone serves themselves and when I cut off my piece much to my surprise a baby Jesus figurine fell out of my piece. All of the people there were delighted at my reaction and jokingly told me that I was now suppose to make tamales. I would love to make tamales, but I do not know how! Hmmm maybe on some p-day I can find someone to teach me.
The food story of the week. I have been enjoying most of the food. Even food that I wouldn't have eaten before my mission isn't too bad. On Saturday I had Mole for the first time...yeah... I ate it and was grateful for the meal, but I think that there is a time for chocolate and a time for chili and we'll just leave it at that. :-)
The best part of the mission is teaching the people and loving them. It's amazing the love I feel for people that I have just met. I see them for who they are: sons and daughters of God. I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve the Lord.
So that's about all for this week. I hope everyone had a great week. I am praying for everyone back home. I love you all!
Con Amor,
Hermana Klaus
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Week 10
Normal email days will be Mondays, but because the libraries were closed on New Year's Eve, they got to email today... (Hurray!)
Also, Katie said to send normal letters to her local address instead of the main mission address, or else she won't get them for quite some time. The new address is:
Hermana Katie Klaus
7049 Westwind Dr #8007
El Paso, TX 79912
----------------------------
Hola de TEXAS!!!
Yep that's right I have been assigned to serve in El Paso, Texas. I love it here! But I am getting ahead of myself...
So I left the MTC on Monday morning at 6:00am and went to the airport. My bags weighed 49 and 50 pounds! Yeah, I know how to pack! We had about an hour delay for our flight, but we soon were on our way. We landed in Albuquerque and went through security and President and Sister Miller and the Assistants were there to meet us. We had a short spiritual thought and then went to the temple to take pictures. We went to the mission home after that and had lunch. It was delicious. We had chicken salad sandwiches and after 2 months of MTC food, it was pure heaven. Then we had a few orientation meetings with the President and his wife which took a few hours. Then we had another delicious home cooked meal of pot roast and rolls. We ended the day with a testimony meeting and one last spiritual thought from President Miller. Then the 7 elders I had traveled with went with the Assistants and spent the night at their apartment, and since I the only sister, I stayed with the Millers in their home. It was probably the best night sleep ever because they stuck me in the general authority room since I was by myself, and it was the most comfortable bed ever! I was asleep in 2 minutes, but that could have been the fact that I had been up 18 hours and had very little sleep the night before!
In the morning we were up and out of the house by 6:30 and headed over to the church for my first transfer meeting. It was at a local church building. All the missionaries in this area that are being transferred come. It starts with a song and a prayer. Next all the missionaries going home give a short testimony. Then the APs started announcing the transfers. They start with the newbies. All but three of us were given their companions and were serving in the Albuquerque area. We, along with several others, were told to head south to Las Cruces for the next transfer meeting. So we piled in a big old van and drove for about 4 hours down to Las Cruces. I was in front so while all the other missionaries snored in the back, I talked to the driver and now I am an expert on all things between Albuquerque and Las Cruces. The brother who drove us down was very nice and it was fun to chat and ask questions about the area. Then we arrived for the second transfer meeting. It was very similar to the first. All the missionaries heading up to Albuquerque went into the van and the three newbies (two elders and me) got into a truck.
We were heading to Texas! (can I mention here that Hali and I are officially in the same state?!) :-D So on the way (it's another 45 minutes) I had my first piece of Mexican candy and not to be outdone by the elders, my mouth was on fire with a chiliboncha which basically means chili bomb. It is watermelon candy laced with chili. Wow it was hot! So we finally made it to El Paso and the crazy thing is that on the freeway you look out the right side of the car and there is Mexico. You can see houses and people it is so close! When we got to the church I finally was at my transfer session. I met my new companion. Her name is Hermana Cruz. She is from Honduras, so she is a native speaker. What a blessing! I am already trying to speak as much Spanish as I can with her and when she needs it I am helping her with her English. We've hit it off great. We've already had some good times. She's been out in the field for about 10 months. Did I mention we have a car. It's a white ford fusion. When all the missionaries pulled out of the transfers in their cars and trucks with bikes in the back it made me smile! I love being a missionary. It's so fun!
Ok so we went to our apartment. When we pulled into the complex, Hermana Cruz asked me if I knew which apartment was ours. I laughed because it was easy to spot. We are the only one with a picture of the Savior hanging on the window. :-) So we dropped off my stuff and then we went to work. We had bad luck for the first little bit. No one was home. Then we went to this elderly lady's home. We had a nice visit with her and I had my first experience in Spanish. It wasn't as bad as I thought. I don't understand all of what's going on, but I'm not totally lost either! Yay! Then we went to two recent converts. They were baptized on Christmas. They are sisters and one is married and has two kids. It was a very interesting appointment. The highlights were that while we were sitting on the couch Hermana Cruz stood up and she forgot she had set a glass of orange soda on the couch so it spilled all over the both of us. Then after we had been sitting there for a little while, this cat came and jumped on the couch next to me. I looked at it and then went back to concentrating on the conversation. The cat walked to the end of the couch when all of the sudden it turned around and charged my arm and pounced on me! It startled me and I jumped into my companion causing everyone to laugh. The cat left for a while, but then returned and decided it wanted to eat my arm, so it proceeded to bite and claw on my sweater. It didn't hurt at all and I was just laughing. My companion tried to get the cat to come to her and it turned and stared at her and then went right back to attacking my arm! It was so funny. In the MTC all the teachers warned us to stay away from dogs because they can be mean, but nobody warned me of the diablo cats! I think that cat could tell that deep down in side I was a dog person.
After that we had dinner at a member's home and it was very entertaining. The other elders who serve in our ward were there too. The entire night they kept trying to convince me the enchilada I was eating was intestines, but I didn't believe it. It gave me pause at the start, but then I decided well I have to eat it anyway, so oh well! They were impressed that I just ate it with no reservations. After dinner all the seasoned missionaries gave me the privilege of giving the spiritual thought. I was really nervous because there were a lot of people and they all spoke Spanish. I said a quick prayer and then read a scripture from the Book of Mormon. 2 Nephi 25:26 which talks about we rejoice in Christ, we speak of Christ and we preach of Christ. I then bore my testimony on the Savior and what he has done for each of us. It was very simple, but felt a sweet peace come over me as I testified of the Savior. After that we went home, and after unpacking a little we went to bed!
This morning has been studying and we visited with a lady in our ward who fed us lunch. I have to let you know that I have reached a milestone in my life. I ate refried beans for lunch today and I didn't even make a face...in fact they were pretty good. That could be because it's hard to taste anything with all the chili they put on their food! It's been 2 hours and my mouth still has a little burn! Maybe in my next package you better send me some TUMS!*
Well that's about everything. I am loving it down here. I can't believe how quickly we jump into being missionaries. We have 4 more lessons this evening and I am teaching right along side Hermana Cruz! Pray that I can do this! I know the Lord has blessed me already. My companion and the two elders all tell me that my Spanish is really good. At dinner last night, the Elders said I know twice as much Spanish as they did coming into the field, so hopefully that means some latent Spanish knowledge from Spain is surfacing. However, it is nice to know that at least I'm not behind in learning the language. Well that's all for today! I love you all so much! I hope everyone had a great New Year. Take care!
Con Amor,
Hermana Klaus
Also, Katie said to send normal letters to her local address instead of the main mission address, or else she won't get them for quite some time. The new address is:
Hermana Katie Klaus
7049 Westwind Dr #8007
El Paso, TX 79912
----------------------------
Hola de TEXAS!!!
Yep that's right I have been assigned to serve in El Paso, Texas. I love it here! But I am getting ahead of myself...
So I left the MTC on Monday morning at 6:00am and went to the airport. My bags weighed 49 and 50 pounds! Yeah, I know how to pack! We had about an hour delay for our flight, but we soon were on our way. We landed in Albuquerque and went through security and President and Sister Miller and the Assistants were there to meet us. We had a short spiritual thought and then went to the temple to take pictures. We went to the mission home after that and had lunch. It was delicious. We had chicken salad sandwiches and after 2 months of MTC food, it was pure heaven. Then we had a few orientation meetings with the President and his wife which took a few hours. Then we had another delicious home cooked meal of pot roast and rolls. We ended the day with a testimony meeting and one last spiritual thought from President Miller. Then the 7 elders I had traveled with went with the Assistants and spent the night at their apartment, and since I the only sister, I stayed with the Millers in their home. It was probably the best night sleep ever because they stuck me in the general authority room since I was by myself, and it was the most comfortable bed ever! I was asleep in 2 minutes, but that could have been the fact that I had been up 18 hours and had very little sleep the night before!
In the morning we were up and out of the house by 6:30 and headed over to the church for my first transfer meeting. It was at a local church building. All the missionaries in this area that are being transferred come. It starts with a song and a prayer. Next all the missionaries going home give a short testimony. Then the APs started announcing the transfers. They start with the newbies. All but three of us were given their companions and were serving in the Albuquerque area. We, along with several others, were told to head south to Las Cruces for the next transfer meeting. So we piled in a big old van and drove for about 4 hours down to Las Cruces. I was in front so while all the other missionaries snored in the back, I talked to the driver and now I am an expert on all things between Albuquerque and Las Cruces. The brother who drove us down was very nice and it was fun to chat and ask questions about the area. Then we arrived for the second transfer meeting. It was very similar to the first. All the missionaries heading up to Albuquerque went into the van and the three newbies (two elders and me) got into a truck.
We were heading to Texas! (can I mention here that Hali and I are officially in the same state?!) :-D So on the way (it's another 45 minutes) I had my first piece of Mexican candy and not to be outdone by the elders, my mouth was on fire with a chiliboncha which basically means chili bomb. It is watermelon candy laced with chili. Wow it was hot! So we finally made it to El Paso and the crazy thing is that on the freeway you look out the right side of the car and there is Mexico. You can see houses and people it is so close! When we got to the church I finally was at my transfer session. I met my new companion. Her name is Hermana Cruz. She is from Honduras, so she is a native speaker. What a blessing! I am already trying to speak as much Spanish as I can with her and when she needs it I am helping her with her English. We've hit it off great. We've already had some good times. She's been out in the field for about 10 months. Did I mention we have a car. It's a white ford fusion. When all the missionaries pulled out of the transfers in their cars and trucks with bikes in the back it made me smile! I love being a missionary. It's so fun!
Ok so we went to our apartment. When we pulled into the complex, Hermana Cruz asked me if I knew which apartment was ours. I laughed because it was easy to spot. We are the only one with a picture of the Savior hanging on the window. :-) So we dropped off my stuff and then we went to work. We had bad luck for the first little bit. No one was home. Then we went to this elderly lady's home. We had a nice visit with her and I had my first experience in Spanish. It wasn't as bad as I thought. I don't understand all of what's going on, but I'm not totally lost either! Yay! Then we went to two recent converts. They were baptized on Christmas. They are sisters and one is married and has two kids. It was a very interesting appointment. The highlights were that while we were sitting on the couch Hermana Cruz stood up and she forgot she had set a glass of orange soda on the couch so it spilled all over the both of us. Then after we had been sitting there for a little while, this cat came and jumped on the couch next to me. I looked at it and then went back to concentrating on the conversation. The cat walked to the end of the couch when all of the sudden it turned around and charged my arm and pounced on me! It startled me and I jumped into my companion causing everyone to laugh. The cat left for a while, but then returned and decided it wanted to eat my arm, so it proceeded to bite and claw on my sweater. It didn't hurt at all and I was just laughing. My companion tried to get the cat to come to her and it turned and stared at her and then went right back to attacking my arm! It was so funny. In the MTC all the teachers warned us to stay away from dogs because they can be mean, but nobody warned me of the diablo cats! I think that cat could tell that deep down in side I was a dog person.
After that we had dinner at a member's home and it was very entertaining. The other elders who serve in our ward were there too. The entire night they kept trying to convince me the enchilada I was eating was intestines, but I didn't believe it. It gave me pause at the start, but then I decided well I have to eat it anyway, so oh well! They were impressed that I just ate it with no reservations. After dinner all the seasoned missionaries gave me the privilege of giving the spiritual thought. I was really nervous because there were a lot of people and they all spoke Spanish. I said a quick prayer and then read a scripture from the Book of Mormon. 2 Nephi 25:26 which talks about we rejoice in Christ, we speak of Christ and we preach of Christ. I then bore my testimony on the Savior and what he has done for each of us. It was very simple, but felt a sweet peace come over me as I testified of the Savior. After that we went home, and after unpacking a little we went to bed!
This morning has been studying and we visited with a lady in our ward who fed us lunch. I have to let you know that I have reached a milestone in my life. I ate refried beans for lunch today and I didn't even make a face...in fact they were pretty good. That could be because it's hard to taste anything with all the chili they put on their food! It's been 2 hours and my mouth still has a little burn! Maybe in my next package you better send me some TUMS!*
Well that's about everything. I am loving it down here. I can't believe how quickly we jump into being missionaries. We have 4 more lessons this evening and I am teaching right along side Hermana Cruz! Pray that I can do this! I know the Lord has blessed me already. My companion and the two elders all tell me that my Spanish is really good. At dinner last night, the Elders said I know twice as much Spanish as they did coming into the field, so hopefully that means some latent Spanish knowledge from Spain is surfacing. However, it is nice to know that at least I'm not behind in learning the language. Well that's all for today! I love you all so much! I hope everyone had a great New Year. Take care!
Con Amor,
Hermana Klaus
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