Thursday, March 19, 2015
Letter Dated February 16, 2015 Week #16
February 16, 2015
Hey guys!! No emails this week?? Que paso??
Anyways, I hope all is well. Hope everyone is safe and sound. Healthy and Happy!
This week...
Okay so last Monday we had a family home evening or un noche de hogar con la Familia Calderon y la Familia Flores. The Calderon’s invited the Flores family and Hno Carlos planned the whole thing. He planned a lesson and asked his daughter to do a game, and his wife to make snacks. THEIR FIRST FHE!!! WOW!! So crazy!! It was so awesome. Hno Carlos started by bearing his testimony. Wow... I cried the whole time. He told us all about the night that Hermana Patterson and I found him. He and his wife had been fighting and he was outside thinking about how he needs to change his life, and then Sis Patterson and I walked up. He also shared how he has ALWAYS wanted to go in to our church but never did because he felt weird just showing up. So when we invited him to church he knew that the church was going to help him. He also talked about how his first Sunday at church he felt such peace and knew that there was something different about our church. He then told us a story about when he was praying to know if the gospel was true…he was sleeping and he had a dream. In his dream a bright light came and then like sparked. He said it sparked his heart and he knew it was true. Crazy. I know. He just has such a strong testimony!! It is soo amazing to see his faith grow and grow!!
This made me think... How many people look at our chapels and don’t go in because they are scared or nervous? All they need is an invite! That is why it’s so important that we invite everyone! EVERYONE! There are people who the Lord has prepared and all we need to do is invite them to church, dinner with the missionaries, activities... anything! Everyone is a missionary, not just those of us with black placks. Everyone who has a testimony is a missionary! Being out here I realize how many people I could of shared my faith with that I didn’t and I feel this guilt on my shoulders for that. I can’t imagine how I’ll feel after this life if I haven’t shared the gospel, especially with the people I care about! Wow. Crazy. I LOVE THE MISSION!
Another thing that stood out to me was when Carlos said how he felt such peace in the chapel. So this past Sunday I sat there in sacrament and thought.. Peace... and I felt it! The spirit is soo strong in the chapels. We can feel it when we take the time to feel it. When we aren’t rushing in late, on our phones, sleeping, or talking to our siblings.. oops... we can feel the spirit. It is there. We just need to slow down so the spirit can catch up to us. We can really focus on why we have church…it is the opportunity to renew our covenants with our Heavenly Father. Wow! I love this gospel!!
Oh another thing!! JOSE!!! HE WENT TO SEMINARY ALL WEEK!! YAYY!! Miracle! He is exhausted but I know that he will realize the blessings. Seminary starts at 4am here! YIKES!! It is so nice cuz 3 of the other young men have been getting up even earlier and walking up to Jose’s house and walking with him to seminary! It is sooo awesome. It is proof to me of how ward fellowship is so so important. Converts need the support from us! They can’t do it alone. I am so grateful for awesome ward members who are willing to love and serve even when it is not particularly convenient!!
OK a random, awkward thing... I basically beat all of the elders at arm wrestling. Now all of the members want to play me.. and lets just say.. I haven’t lost yet! So awks.. WHY AM I STRONGER THEN EVERY BOY!! I’m never getting married. Ha ha ha Oh well.. Over it.
OK so the Hula I am teaching the youth for the luau has now turned into teach the relief society and primary a hula too! Pray for me. Never thought the mission would turn me into a kumu hula! Ha ha ha
We had a multi zone this week and we watched Meet the Mormons.. in español. It’s a lot better in English. Ha ha ha But I love that movie. It is sooo good!! We are having an activity this week in our ward, a missionary activity, and we are going to watch it again.
Sad news! I found out at the Multi zone that Elder Fua went home! He was the ONLY other missionary that came with me from the CCM. He had a leg problem so he has been home for a month and I didn’t even know it!! SO PLEASE PRAY FOR HIM!! Apparently he can’t come back for like 9 months. I’ll almost be done by the time he gets back out. So sad, but I guess it is for the best. Huh, that sucks though.
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| Me and Elder Fua at the temple in El Salvador. |
Ok that is all for this week. I love y’alll!!! I’M PRAYING FOR Y’ALL!
LOVE YOU ALL SOO SOO SOO MUCH!
Sophia… stop telling people that I bossed you around…ha ha ha
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--Hermana Kava--
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| Kids playing on my street in Ayutuxtepeque, El Salvador. |
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| The view of the beautiful sunset from my street. |
Letter dated February 9, 2015 Week #15
February 9, 2015
HEY Y’ALL!
Yikes Mom... I’m sorry but I’ve become the best bug killer!! Ha ha ha But I’ll let the flies be just in case you get your wish and get to be a “fly on the wall” and watch me. Ha ha
MY BABBYYY BOY LUKIE!!! NOOOOO!!! What is going on?? PROM??? DRIVING??? I almost fainted!! WHAT IS GOING ON?? Why is he growing up soo fast!!! It’s only been 3 months! WHAT!! He is just soo handsome! I’m going to cry. I’m taking that photo and going to print it right after this!!! Thank you Lukie for being the best little brother ever!! I just love you so much! NO GIRLS!!! Who was his date? I want a picture.. Grrr......
Okay my health is awesome Mom!! STOP STRESSING!!! You don’t need to ask me every week if I’m healthy! Ha ha ha I promise I will tell you if I am sick. Thanks for being concerned though :)
I do use my Hydroflask every now and then but I don’t really need my water filter. We have good water and we just buy bottled water when we are out so we can get COLD water!
I am SO proud of Luke!! I know he will make the team! He has always had a natural gift when it comes to baseball, football, basketball... okay everything. Ha ha ha YOU GO SLUGGER!!! Whoaa! Wish I could be there to cheer for him. :( Ha ha ha You can so tell that I am a cheerleader at heart. At futbol here I am cheering and everyone looks at me like.. CHILL SIS KAVA! Ha ha ha whatever. I just get so EXCITED!! Wow, I have missed football though! There is one member in my ward who watched the super bowl and was calling and giving us updates. Ha ha That was awesome of him.
I’m sorry you were sick mommy!! Wish I could have been home to help with things but I’m glad you have daddy to help you ;) I’ll pray for your health! Hey! Have you gone to the eye doc and all the other doctor stuff you were putting off till I left?? YOU’D BETTER DO THAT!
This week was pretty chill, nothing super exciting. We did have changes but Sister Patterson and I are still together. THANK GOODNESS!! That means she will end her mission with me!! SO in mission terms, I am going to kill my mom and my mission Dad too because my district leader is going to end his mission at the end of this transfer too. They are my mission parents. Sad… but I’m excited for them to start a new chapter of their lives. I’m so excited that I get to stay here!! YAYY!!
Don’t hate me for saying this Mom and Dad but I already know that at the end of my mission I am not going to want to leave. A member told us this week about a sweet deal for English speakers. They can come to El Salvador and work. They get free housing and a car and they make bank! Well, for El Salv standards. All you do is just teach English. Ha ha ha She told us to pray about it… sooo.
Our Zone had the loads of changes this week. Pretty much all new missionaries. They white washed like 6 areas. Crazy! Our zone meeting was completely different. We have new zone leaders and all but I’m super excited!! It’s an awesome zone!! Our zone leaders Elder Johnson and Elder Evans are awesome!! I’m just sad cuz Sister Hirschi got transferred. :( We got a new sister from Las Vegas, Sis Jepson and she is super sweet.
Okay as for this week...
I started teaching the youth a hula! It’s soo funny!! Ha ha ha I made up a dance to Lilo and Stich. The thing is, I have to keep everything super basic or they can’t do it. But it’s okay, it’s fun. They all love it!!! The ward is loving the LUAU idea. They are all jumping on board to help out!! So nice. It’s going to be on March 7th. SO.. on this night just remember that there is a big group of El Salvadorians trying to be Hawaiians. The Relief Society wants me to teach them a hula too... soooo pray for me. I’m going to need it. Ha ha ha Thanks for the Pandora idea.. that’s genius!! Yes, our chapel does has wifi so I’ll ask the Bishop about that!! I’m just worried that Pandora won’t work here cuz it didn’t work in Italy.. so Vamos a ver!!
I’ve been fed some questionable things this week. We had a soup with who knows what in it, but it tasted good, so whatever. Haha Also, a thing here, which I don’t get, is even when it’s the hottest day they eat soup! I’m like sweating buckets at the dinner table eating soup! It’s okay though cuz so is my comp! How come no one else is?!?! It’s all good!
The Calderons are doing awesome!! Jose, the son, came out and worked with us the other day. He is hilarious. He can speak English and its so funny cuz he mumbles little sarcastic things and it cracks us up!! Reminds me of Josh. Ha ha We bought him pupusas after for his hard work. It’s so awesome cuz he wants to be a missionary!! We spoke with one lady who is Catholic and she was just throwing all of this anti- Book of Mormon stuff at us and it made me cry to see Jose testify of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and he explained it to her. I was like.. "HE LISTENS TO US!!!" It just helped me realize, like wow, I’m actually making a difference! Which is so nice when you have a rough week. Carlos and his wife went on a date!!! Carlos is preparing for the Preisthood!!! Yayy!! Jose is going to seminary and Karla went to Institute this week!! SHE LOVED IT!!! So all is going good with the familia Calderon!!! Thanks for all of your prayers! I know that they can feel them.
Hey Mom, I haven’t gotten your letter, but keep them coming. I’ll get them. It’s probably in the mission office. Hopefully this Thursday I’ll get them. I don’t think they bring them unless you have 2 or more. So I’ll eventually get them and I know I’ll get them when I’ll need them most. So no worries!!
I’m so happy for Ana!! Where is she going to serve her mission?? When does she leave? Which MTC will she be going to? She is going to love her mission!!!
One last thing... I learned more about the local gangs this week. I love learning about them and then noticing them more in the streets. I learned that all the gangsters wear the same shoes. So now I look at everyone’s shoes!! I’m pretty sure that everyone we talk to is a gangster. BUT THEY ARE ALL SOOO NICE!!! I think what I’ve learned the most about this is that even if they are involved in a gang or have done bad things before, I don’t care. I mean, I’m very careful! But I just have so much love for them!! ALL OF THEM!! EVERY SINGLE ONE!! I think about our Heavenly Father and how He knows EVERY bad thing WE have ever done and yet He still loves us SOO MUCH!! Nothing is going to change His love for us! I am soo blessed that for 18 moths I get to feel just a little of the love He has for these people. WOW!! I feel like screaming on top of a volcano "I LOVE LIFE!!" Not in a “hippy” way but in a “I’m so grateful” way!!!
Okay well that’s all for this week. I LOVE YOU ALL!! Stop growing up Luke and Sophia! Sissy… keep up the hard work, it doesn’t go unnoticed. Josh... stop being so handsome!! Dad... I LOVE YOU!! THANK YOU!! Mom.... Thanks for being my bestie for the eternities!
Btw... Where’s Maui and Kim at?? Do they get my emails? Can I have their emails? I MISS them.
Oh yeah! Please tell Auntie Peta thank you for the email and thank Sister Bertino for the birthday money! I appreciate that they are thinking about me.
I love you all!!! KEEP SMILING!! There’s nothing to be sad about!!! LIFE IS GOOD!
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--Hermana Kava—
Letter Dated February 2, 2015 Week #14
February 2, 2015
ALOHA FAM!!
Yeah, so you already know the best part of my week, thanks to Hermano Urrutia, that we had our first baptism! SO exciting! But before I get into that...
I’m healthy mom. My stomach is fine. When I find probiotics I’ll get them. Lol I don’t need meds though. I’m healthy!! :)
Thanks for the responses from everyone! I love reading them!!
If you want to send a CD with Hawaiian songs for our Luau that would be fine but please don’t spend more than 10 bucks. Lol. I can figure it out here but it would save us time if you sent one. But please don’t worry if it’s a hassle. Thanks for offering!
I’m good and don’t need anything. I miss talking to you too! I wish I could tell you everything... but I cant :( no time/..
So something from this week...
The funny thing is sis Patt kept getting annoyed cuz like 5 people this week asked her if she had change for a 20. It’s cuz she’s white! Ha ha ha and of course she had no more than 2 dollars on her, poor missionary that she is. So funny!!
Another thing is, it must be tamale season because I literally ate 5 a day. Crazy! Good thing I love El Salv food now!!
I know! I hit 3 months already! Wow!
Can you text David Hall from my phone and ask for his email? He wants my emails. Thanks!
My new fav snack… pringles and orange juice. I dip my pringles IN the orange juice!! THE BESTT!!! Ha ha ha I know, weird. But it’s one of the few American things that I can get close to my house. You should try it. He he he
I’m using John Frieda shampoo and it smells like you Mommy. I like cry in the shower... no big. Ha ha ha half cuz I miss you and the other half cuz the water is freezing! #lookingintoawaterheater!
Soooo it’s February! THAT MEANS A NEW MEAL CALENDAR!! So awesome!! The ward families are lining up to feed us... but… it’s started a lil drama cuz people are kinda fighting over days. To be honest, it’s a lil awks for us, but we are so grateful. We finally just said we would eat 2 dinners... huh... crazy! So much for trying to lose weight. But oh well, I love being with the members!! I JUST LOVE THEM ALL!! Even the families that are a lil strange at first, I just love them by the end of the night! Everyone likes to practice their English with us. Ha ha ha funniest thing!!! I’m trying Spanish, they are trying English…the conversation is all over the place! IT’S A BLAST!!!
Okay, another thing that happened that broke my heart, in a good way…. So do you remember how in 3rd grade how I got teased for having a big nose? Well yeah, I’ve hated my nose ever since. This week 3 people have told me that they love my nose! A little weird, and random, but it so helped me. I know Heavenly Father has His angels with me because it happened whenever I was getting tired or discouraged. Someone we talked to just complimented my nose. Ha ha ha Anyways, now I like my nose. Like you always say Mom, Heavenly Father doesn’t make junk.
Sorry we emailed later today but we hiked a volcano this morning! I want to send you photos but these computers aren’t letting me! Not good. I have like a hundred I want to send!! So beautiful and amazing! Hopefully next week you will get the mother load of photos!!
(NOTE from Mamma Kava: since I am posting this blog update so late anyways, I am inserting the photos that we did finally receive from Hermana Kava into the correct spot. Opps! I gotta get better at updating her blog in a timely fashion!)
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| My District! |
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| Me and Hermana Patterson |
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| Me, Hermanas Hirschi, Magoffin and Patterson. |
I GOT THROUGH MY FIRST CHANGE!!! Yay!! Changes are this Wednesday but Hermana Patt and I are confident that we will stay together for this change. Pray for that, please!
Ok now for the best part of the week, the Calderons!!
Wow! I am lost for words. They are a miracle. I would call them GOLDEN INVESTIGATORS!! We literally met them a month before they got baptized. Do you remember how I told you that we met them? One night we had 30 minutes left before we had to be back in our lil home so we decided to just contact and we were having zero luck. We prayed that the next person we met would be ready to hear the Gospel. Well, Sis Patt almost got eaten by a dog, and a little boy ran out to get the dog. Then we talked to his dad. Seriously. It’s such a huge deal for Hermana Patterson and I. I have so much love for them. You can bet I was a balling mess during the baptism!! To get to see them making this beautiful covenant with the Lord was just awesome. Sis Patt and I opened an area, found this wonderful family in the street one night, taught them the lessons, and they accepted it! It’s just beautiful!! HUH! I AM SOO FULL OF HAPPINESS!!! I can’t really describe it!! In the photo that Brother Urrutio sent you (I’ll send more) it is Carlos, the dad, and his son Jose and his daughter Karla. Karla didn’t get baptized but we are still working with her. Please pray for her!! They are having family problems and they need the gospel. I know that they can find true happiness in the gospel. Hermana Patterson and I were at the chapel all day!! We scrubbed the pilla clean!
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| The Familia Calderon! |
I LOVE MY MISSION!! Holy COW!!! I AM SO HAPPY!! SERIOUSLY, EVERYONE AND THEIR DOG NEEDS TO GET ON A MISSION!! I can’t wait for you and daddy to do this someday. I know it will be a little different, but seriously, it is the best. So happy. LOVE YOU ALL!!! HASTA PROXIMA SEMANA!
LOVE YOU ALL!
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--Hermana Kava--
Letter dated January 26, 2015 Week #13
January 26, 2015
Hola Mami,
Wow... a lot has happened this week. Thank you for all of the news.
I am so sorry for the Kunioka family’s loss. Aunty Lily was a very special lady. I’m sure that Uncle Kevin’s mom was special too. Please send them my love. I will pray for their family!
Wow... Tara is with child! That was fast. LOL! I am super happy for her! Please tell her to send me photos of the bebe!
Yes, Lex and Mar and Tati all emailed me. :)
Thank Sister Bertino for me please!! I loved those things!! They are perfect. We always get invited to things that I want little Hawaii things to give, so those are perfect. I love that I am able to give them a little something. Thank you so much Sister Bertino!
I emailed grams. I love Papa and Grandma so much and I really appreciate the birthday gift. Tell them to write to me, please. I want to hear what they and Belle are up to.
WOW! It is so awesome that Mele and I have the same nametag! I am happy that she feels more comfortable now and feels like she is representing the people who love her. TWO HERMANA KAVAS! Who would’ve thought? Ha ha ha Let’s go Mel, gotta rep that name tag good. LOL!
Mom, my health is good. I’m fine, really! No worries beef curry. I’m getting used to everything. Sometimes I laugh cuz I’m going to come home and literally eat anything. Every meal I want to laugh out loud cuz I keep thinking “if mom saw me right now she wouldn’t be able to believe what I am eating!”. So funny!!! We don’t just eat all of our food… we CLEAN the plates. By that I mean we eat every last drop of salsa. You can’t even tell there was food on the plate. People would never believe that I used to be a picky eater. Ha ha ha When people are sacrificing to feed you, you can’t waste anything.
I didn’t get your letter yet, probably by Thursday. Thank you for writing to me though.
I love my birthday box btw! The speaker, the clothes, the shoes, everything!! The toys... perfect! We used them for a FHE and it was a huge hit. The kids here love me, which is good because, don’t ask me why but, I just love children!! I’ve gotten into stickers, so I hand them out to the kids. I hand out little candies too. Ha ha ha It’s cute because we will be walking down the street and then you hear Hermana Kava Kermana Kava!! It’s so cute! Btw... I loved all of the letters that were in the box from everyone! Thank you guys! I’m going to send a response to everyone in a big letter when I get a chance. Oh and I love the little personalized hymn book! Thank you!!!! Sis Patt said I’ll love having it in Belize. OH! And thank you for all of the photots>!!! I love them!!! I love seeing everyone’s beautiful faces.
Hey, can you email me a list of Hawaiian songs and artists? Like 100 please. We are planning a big LUAU here for the end of February!! We are all so excited! We can make a cd but I need names of songs and artists. All kinds of Hawaiian music is welcomed but I’m thinking more of old grams kind. Thank you!!
Keep an eye out for my letters in the mail, I’m sending a few out this week.
Is everyone okay? I had the worst dream on Saturday night. I woke up crying... but I just prayed like crazy that you all are okay and protected!!! I hope nothing is wrong! Hows Lukie??? I hope he is okay.
HAPPY BDAY JOSHIE!!! I hope you had an awesome day!! What did y’all do?? Church? Ha ha ha It was always the best when our birthdays fell on a Sunday. :)
Okay so a little about my week...
The super pday was fun. We just had interviews and watched movies like Meet the Mormons (in Spanish). We also ate pizza.
This week we had a lesson with the familia Calderon. One of my zone leaders and one of the a.p.’s (assistant to the President) came to the lesson. Oh my goodness, it was one of the most spiritual experiences I have ever had. I basically cried from start to finish. It was so good. We shared a talk from Thomas S Monson about following Jesus Christ and then just testified!! It was so awesome. I can’t even begin to describe how strong the spirit was. It was something that I don’t think I will ever forget.
Ok so a funny story about C. Calderon, the dad. We have this lil coffee and pastry store on the corner of the main street called Mr. Pan. We walk past this place at least 20 times a day. Anyways, we were walking by and right as we passed it I felt like “hey, someone needs us right now.” But we kept walking. So we are walking up the hill and we see Carla, the daughter, so we were like “hey, where you going?” She said she was going to Mr. Pan to meet her dad. So, we asked if we could go with her and she said yeah. So we were walking and I said “Hmmmm.... lets see if your dad is drinking coffee” and she laughed. You see, this family is awesome, but their only problem is COFFEE! We are working with them on this. So we walk into Mr Pan and see C. Calderon. He was all nervous and he had a bunch of stuff on his table... in black bags. So me being blunt, oops, said “Hola hermano!!! Que tiene??? and looked and there was coffee!! Ha ha ha he was like Hermanas!!! It’s a habit. I only drank a little. Ha ha Anyways, we got rid of it and bought him some juice and bought us donuts! It is crazy because right as we passed the spot that he was sitting in I got this crazy feeling. I told him about it and he said that he knows it’s a sign from Heavenly Father that he needs to stop. Sooooooo, he hasn’t had a drink of coffee since! We also bought him some hot chocolate and this thing called SOYA. It was just so awesome because it just showed that the Lord knows he is ready for the gospel now.
Another cool thing that happened was that we got to work in San Ramon this week. Our area is doing super good so we went to help the district leaders in their area. So went to San Ramon and one of the girls they are teaching now is special needs. You know how big of a spot special needs kids have in my heart. So I just loved her from the get go and I think she could feel it cuz she just ran and hugged me and was stuck to my side the entire time. I love her! I had my stickers with me and I gave her my sticker book so she could choose one. Well, she wanted all of them so I gave them to her. She loved them and was so happy. We started singing “soy un hijo de Dios” (I am a Child of God) and I just balled the whole time. I felt her spirit so strong... it was just so awesome for me to have the opportunity to teach her. I could see the pureness in her eyes and I could really feel our Saviors’ love for her. It was the highlight of my week!!
Other than that... just a normal week. I LOVE YOU ALL!!!
Keep me posted!!
--Hermana Kava--
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Letter dated January 19, 2015 Week #12
January 19, 2015
Hey familia,
Thanks for the health tips Mom. I’m better now, more adjusted. I won’t be stubborn and I will go to the mission nurse if I am really sick. (P.S. I’m never stubborn.. ha ha ha)
We still don’t have a replacement bathroom sink. But it’s all good cuz we don’t need two anyways.
Transfers are Feb 6th, I think. This was an 8-week transfer because they had a 4 week transfer last time. I don’t know why. I’m sure (hoping) Hermana Patterson and I will stay together for the next transfer. I will probably be in Ayutuxtepeque for a long time. I’m hoping for 6 months here... then BELIZE!!! But who knows what will actually happen. I am sure that no matter what happens at transfers that all will be good.
DAVIDS ENGAGED!!??!! Wow! I’m happy for him. I’m sad that I’ll miss the wedding… unless they wait 16 months! Ha ha ha
Hug Daddy for me. I’m sorry he is sick!
It’s okay about getting the addresses that I asked for. I can wait as long as you need. It must be a real bummer that the computer hard drive crashed! I am happy that they can fix the computer. That would suck if it couldn’t be fixed! I ‘m glad you had everything backed up.
The ward loves us missionaries and we have a huge list of activities that we want to do. It’s getting the members excited. We have an awesome ward council. The only negative thing is that everyone is like related. It is a very latina culture. I don’t know how to explain it, but our ward has like “POWER FAMILIES” and they aren’t very nice to the other families but we are really working on that. We think that the activities will help them work together and get to know each other better and in a different light. I love this ward though and I never wanna leave it!!
I am glad you got the photos from the Fuentes and Cuellar families. I am seriously so blessed!!! The familia Fuentes threw me a LUAU for my birthday!! It was all Hawaii themed. It was so sweet. They spent all day looking up what a luau looks like and decorated the house and made Hermana Patterson and I paper flower leis. It’s not like they can run to price busters and grab a bunch of 1 dollar stuff. They have to make everything from SCRATCH!! So special...
The Cuellar family is awesome too!! They cut out a bunch of magazines and made it into a big sign for me! We had a beautiful cake and had a great time. I hear you responded?? In SPANISH?? What did you say? Please send me the photos that they sent you so I can see too, ok? In addition to my two birthday dinners I also had a bday lunch with the familia Arevalo. SO so sweet and to top it off all of my investigators gave me drawings and candies. Everyone really spoiled me and made me feel
special.
Also for my bday we wanted to have 20 LPE, which is contacting, so I just start talking to everyone and anyone in the street. I contacted 30 people in like 3 hours! Super awesome! I love talking to people and getting to know about them and their life!! Thank goodness I got my talking ability from you mom! Ha ha ha
This Sunday we had 8 investigators in church!! Huh, super awesome. We have some of the best numbers in our zone and I know its because we just try to be happy and to love everyone.
Yeah I hope to get my birthday packet later today at the super p-day at President’s!! Yayyy! Thank you for whatever you sent.
Side note: Sis Patt wants me to say that she is just the cutest. Ha ha ha
Okay so let me tell you a cool story that happened this week…
So I have this new obsession with STICKERS!! Don’t ask, its a latina thing. :) So I stop and buy them in papeleria as much as I can! THURSDAY I HAD THIS INSANE CRAVING FOR STICKERS! WIRED ,I KNOW! Anyways, as we were going from appointment to appointment I kept my eyes open for one but we never passed by one. I told Hermana Patt that we needed to find one because some one needs us in a papeleria. She just laughed and so did I. I had no idea why I said that or felt that but on Friday we had just finished a lesson and I remembered seeing a papeleria on a street we were by so I said lets go check it out. There is a super kind lady selling me my stickers when this guy comes up behind us and he speaks English AND IS SUPER POSITIVE to our message!! Like wow! I think he is really ready for the gospel. Sooo ….someone in a papeleria really did need us! Crazy, but cool. Ha ha ha I Love how the spirit works! Although now Sis Patt says she’s gonna use... “oh, someone in Mr. Donut needs us” so she can get a donut! Ha ha ha Oh no!
Nelson and Tati aren’t really progressing, which breaks my heart, so this week we are going to give them a little space so they can figure things out. However, the FAMILIA CALDERON…..WOW!!! They are so awesome! They have a struggle with CAFE or coffee, which everyone here loves. We have been working on that with them and teaching them about The Word of Wisdom and the blessings that come from living it. Wow! They are golden. They haven’t had any coffee for 4 days! It is awesome. We bought them hot chocolate and made reminders for them in their house. I also bring candy each day that they don’t drink any coffee. They are doing so good. Please pray for them.
It has made me think….this family has to not drink coffee in order to be baptized. They have to stop something they do everyday to follow Jesus Christ and join the church. Then I thought about how many members choose to drink coffee or smoke or lie or steal or don’t follow a commandment. But really, how many of us do things that aren’t in line with the commandments but still enjoy the blessings of membership? There are people who really want this gospel but can’t be baptized because they don’t keep the commandments. It has just made me realize how much more I want to be obedient to all of the commandments and how grateful I am FOR the commandments and the guidance and help they have been in my life!!
Anyways... that’s all... not much new this week.
I LOVE YOU ALL!! I am excited to tell you about my super p day next week!! I wonder what we are going to do?
Have an awesome week!!
Hug Josh on the 25th for me and tell him I love him, old man. Hug Luke and Dad and Sophia!!!
SEND PHOTOS!! Please.
Love you Mommy!!
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--Hermana Kava--
Letter dated January 12, 2015
January 12, 2015
Hola Familia!!!
Thanks for your sweet sweet email Mom. Made me cry... I am so lucky to have had you and Daddy as my best friends for the past 20 years!
WOW 20? What is happening to me? I feel so old. Ha ha ha kidding, but kinda not kidding. I have been thinking back on these past 20 years…and thank you so much! Because of you and Dad I have lived such a blessed life. Seriously, I am so grateful. I thank my Heavenly Father every night for all of the blessings I have. Huh, I cry just because I am so overwhelmed with gratitude. Thank you to everyone who reads my emails, thank you so much. Each of you has helped to shape me into who I am today. I love you all!!
Okay so for some of your questions...
I love teaching! Especially when the spirit is super strong. It’s the best! And no, my brain doesn’t feel like scrabbled eggs with Spanish. Ha ha Its been kinda…. well….not easy, but not too hard to learn. I have been picking up Spanish fairly easily. I am so super thankful for that. I know that it is because when you have a righteous desire, the Lord will help you accomplish it! I think that if I were trying to learn Spanish to glorify myself or to feel puffed up I wouldn’t be learning it like I am. I am so thankful that I can communicate with the people here.
As for studying… we don’t have too much time to study because we always have so much stuff to do! We mostly do just our personal study and companion study but we don’t always get to do idioma (language) and 12 weeks. As for my daily schedule: we wake up at 6:30 and work out for 30 to 45 minutes. BTW, I got 10 Zumba dvds for 10 bucks! Sister Hirschi helped me get them. :) After exercising we then study till 12:00 noon and then eat lunch and are out by 1:00pm. Lately we have been out earlier but it’s all good. Yes Mom, I am eating. I EAT SO MUCH MOM!! Like no way do you have to worry about me starving! These sweet people feed us lunch and dinner everyday! It’s awesome but at the same time my stomach isn’t used to this kind of food yet so we run home a lot! But it’s awesome. Everyone knows my birthday is tomorrow and everyone wants to feed us, so this week we have twice as much food! OH MY! And people want to stop by and bring me stuff. Super sweet! I love everyone here. I am so blessed with an awesome ward. Yes, it is well organized and my mission leader is awesome! He loves to feed us too. I’m really grateful we walk up mountains all day long... it’s so helpful. Yes, there has been some questionable things people have fed us, but I just pray and stick it in my mouth and hope it goes down ok. I actually like everything. Ha ha ha I love me some El Salvs food! I tell everyone I want to learn how to cook El Salvadorian food and so they all want to show me and write down the recipes for me. SUPER AWESOME! We have to be home by 8 pm unless we are in the home of a member then we can get home at 8:30p.m. so its not too bad. I wish we had more time though.
I am so grateful for Elders. Seriously! At one point this week my stomach was so bad I couldn’t go far from our house so the Elders came over and gave me a blessing and since then I have been doing a lot better. I love it that there are men who hold the priesthood around everywhere that I can always ask for a blessing. So nice. Also, I am thankful that my Daddy is always a worthy priesthood holder and he could always give me blessing when I needed one. Love him>!
So side note... our futbol activity once a week is a huge hit!! This past Thursday we got 35 youth out!! THAT IS AMAZING FOR OUR AREA!! They love it. We love it.
Our investigators are all doing awesome... some stories for y'all...
After futbol on Thursday we were getting pupusas for dinner and as we were finishing up we felt like someone needed us, so we quickly paid and left. Then when we got outside I offered a prayer that we would know who needed us. The second I said amen and turned around Carlos C. was walking up the hill. We ran up to him and started talking to him. He is awesome. So we walked him to his house and asked if we could have a quick lesson with him. He said yes and oh my, the spirit was so strong. My Spanish was even on point. He opened up to us and just like I had felt before hand, he told us that his family is having a lot of contention in the house. He cried… we cried... it was just so awesome! We were able to testify about how we know that this gospel can help him. And I testified about how the gospel brings my family closer and gives us more unity and love. It was just awesome. He is so close. I love him and know that he will be ready for baptism so soon! It’s his family that we need to work with now.
You know the teens that we teach, Nelson and Tatiana, well they want to get baptized and I know that they are ready. They have such a strong testimony but their mom won’t sign to allow them to be baptized. SO SAD. We had a lesson with them and asked what we could do to get their mom to sign and Nelson started crying saying that he doesn’t even know if his mom loves him. It broke my heart... seriously! I didn’t even know what to say. Hermana Patterson and I were a balling mess. Thank goodness the elders were there and helped talk, cuz I for sure couldn’t. It was so sad. I thought about it, how many people out there question the love of their parents? Wow. I know that I have never questioned the love of my parents. I just kind of freaked inside. I have so much love for these kids. How could their mother not see how awesome they are?!?!? huhh... Anyways, please pray for them. Pray that we can get their mom to sign so that they can get baptized. We have a Family Home Evening this wed at their house so hopefully we can get it then.
The Urrutia family is awesome, right? It is so nice that they are sending you photos of us. They feed us every Sunday night so we love them. Ha ha I shared with them how you bared your testimony about them. They were so grateful. They are an awesome family. They have two girls and one boy. The eldest girl is Dani. We took her out to work with us one day. She’s awesome and will be a great missionary. The son is awesome too and he is trying to learn English now. The little girl is one loca chicka! Ha ha ha So full of energy! She’s a sassy little thing but she loves me. Ha ha ha She runs up to me and hugs me all the time. It is so nice.
I had my first inter-changes or inter-cambios this week. It was chill. Hermana Hirschi and I traded places so I worked in Mejicanos and she worked in Ayutuxtepeque. I had Hermana Magoffin as my companion and it was cool to work somewhere else but I missed my area and all of the people in my area so I was happy to return!! Yay!
I love everything in my mission!!! I am soo happppyyy!!!
LOVE YOU ALL!! Hope you all have an awesome week!!
Daddy I love you!!
Thanks all for the birthday wishes!!!
P.S. Mom can I please have the email addresses of Tati and Mar and Lexx and Mele and home addresses for them and Chantel, Sabrin, Audrey’s mission, Cass, Henna, Keeks, Emily ots, Mele’s mission, Paula & my biggest bro Maui? Thanks!
Oh! Next week we have a super pday at the Presidente’s house so I don’t know when ill email next week. Just a heads up so you don’t worry Mom! I LOVE YOU!!!
--Hermana Kava--
Letter Dated January 5, 2015
January 5, 2015
First email of the New Year! Hey guys! Sorry Mom I didn’t get to read your whole email yet, running out of time, but I will print it out and email answers to it next week. Ok?
Sooooo…… this week was so awesome and yet so hard. Do you want the good or the bad first? Well, I will tell you the bad first.
I broke our bathroom sink! Yeah, I know, how does one break a sink? I don’t know, but somehow I DID! It was a porcelain sink that hung off of the wall, with no legs, and somehow I just broke it off! Now we only have the kitchen sink, but it is ok. At least we have one sink. Hermana Patterson almost died of laughter! Ha ha ha It was funny but also a bit annoying because our house seems to always have a problem. But for some strange reason we have mad love for our little house!
Another bad thing this week was I got sick. First I got stomach sick on New Years Eve. We had two awesome families that wanted to feed us and I was so so sick. Huh, I was running to the bathroom every fifteen minutes. NOT FUN! But we had these two meal appointments and we didn’t want to be rude and cancel on them, especially on New Years Eve, so we went. Our first meal was with the familia C. Everyone told us that they would be feeding us a lot of food! I was so worried but I prayed that they were wrong….well, they were RIGHT! SO MUCH FOOD! Seriously, they served us a mountain of food. I just prayed the whole time and I managed to get it down. Then we went straight to our next meal! It was with the familia F. They are super high maka maka and so we need to be on their good side because if they don’t like us they can influence the whole ward. So we get there on time and I have to go, so I ask to use their bathroom and head straight there! So uncomfortable… but you gotta do what you gotta do! Then we eat a whole other meal! I was seriously ready to blow chunks so we finally get home and I was so sick and not feeling good but at least we were home. Hermana Patterson and I wanted to stay up until midnight so we made these really cute time capsules out of Pringles cans (ha ha- heffers) and wrote letters and predictions of where we think we will be in a year. It was a super emotional night, I don’t know why but I missed y’all more on New Years Eve than I did on Christmas. But its ok, I got over it and got right to work the next morning. Gotta start the year off right. New Years Eve here is crazy! Its fireworks all day and night! New Years day we had a zone meeting and the streets were DEAD! Like only missionaries were on the streets. Well…. missionaries and passed out drunk people! Anyways, that was fun! Now Hermana Patterson and I both have colds, but we will live.
OK NOW FOR THE AWESOME PART! Last p-day was amazing! We only work like 2-3 hours on our p-day night. This last p-day we had something else we had to do so we only had two hours. I have been practicing my faith so much more and trying to work super hard! So we go out to the streets and start contacting and we got 7 new investigators in 2 hours! That is NEWS! I was so stoked! It was seriously a miracle! Our district leader was so shocked! He almost didn’t believe us, but huh, so awesome! It just shows what can happen when you have faith. We have been able to meet with all of them this week and they are all super positive. I LOVE IT!
Another good thing this week is that I have been trying to open my mouth more. I know that I know more Spanish than I think I do so I have been trying to just speak even if I am saying it wrong. Oh my, it has been such a blessing! When I open my mouth and testify of the things I know to be true the spirit is so strong, so strong. I know that the Holy Ghost is speaking through me. I have been speaking like never before. Of course I have been crying during my lessons, but it is ok because my investigators have been crying too. I don’t know how to explain this, but I just love my mission. I recognize the Lord’s hand in everything so much more now. I feel the spirit like never before! It’s awesome! LUKE, YOU NEED TO PREPARE NOW! Don’t wait like I did. Study the Scriptures like crazy! Read the lessons now, get yourself ready for it!
One last thing, I started to read the Book of Mormon while I was in the CCM and I am almost done! We have two investigators who are starting to read the Book of Mormon and we are reading with them so I have to start all over. I am so happy about that though because each time I read the Book of Mormon different scripture passages stick out and help me that I haven’t even really noticed before. So I love that I am starting all over.
I already know that when I get home I am going to be a salsa dancing fool! I LOVE dancing salsa but I can’t very much cuz I am a sis mish! Ha ha ha
Anyways, I love you all! Feel better soon Daddy!
-- Hermana Kava--
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