The SUN!!!!! 03/26/12

Hello family and friends!


Okay so this week... hmm... I don't really know what to say about this week.  On Wednesday we had interviews with President and Sister Weaver.. they went good.  Its not set in stone but it looks like there is a good chance that I will get to finish my mission in Silverdale.... But.... things don't look so good for Sis. Chronister.... I'm way bummed and still in denial about it so no worries there have been no emotional break downs yet... concerning that matter any way.  So I have been feeling better lately but still not 100 percent.  Its just like weird when I swallow.  I don't know... So anyway Sister Weaver asked me how I was and I told her and then I told her that I didn't need to go back to the doctor because I was fine and I had a blessing and the blessing said that it would all go away soon.  So she said okay.  Then at 9:30 that night I get a call from Sister Weaver saying that she wants me to go back to the doctor!  I was like are you serious!!!!  We all know how much I love doctors!  So the next morning I went and he said I think its your thyroid and its probably just a little swollen.  So he took some blood and then called me the next day.  The blood came back perfect and everything was great.  So Sister Weaver is still way paranoid and I'm pretty sure she convinced the doctor that I needed an ultra sound!!!!  In the words of Sister Finnegan "OH FOR PETE'S SAKE!"  That's what I said.  So then I had to go do that.  And wait in a waiting room for 45 minutes!  It was dumb. Thank goodness that I have the best companion in the world to keep me calm and not frustrated haha. So the guy there said that my thyroid looks fine.  So no need to worry people... I'm totally fine.  Just how there is nothing ever wrong with me when I go to the doctor haha.  So anyway... I'm fine mom no need to worry :) Hmm... what else happened this week???  We had a sisters conference!  That was fun.  And because I'm one of the oldest sisters here I got to have a couch haha.  It was great and fun to see everyone again. We had dinner at the mission home then we went to the Pudget sound and watched the sunset.  It was fun.  Then we had a devotional and training the next morning and we all shared our testimony... It was so amazing and the spirit was tangible.  I bore my testimony on the two things that I have learned on my mission. The power of my Savior Jesus Christ, and the blessings of Eternal Families. The other sister that goes home in May stood up and said that she was scared to lose the mantle and the "missionary spirit" and the power to teach, and then she said but I know that the Lord will call me to teach again when he calls me to be a mother.... My eyes filled with tears and I knew that, that was so true!  I am so thankful for that knowledge and for the things in the future that I have to look forward too because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ... I am so grateful for my Heavenly Father.  I am grateful because the sun has been out for the past 3 days, and it makes me happy!  I am grateful for the scripture..."many are called, but few are chosen." I'm grateful that Heavenly Father chose me to be his disciple at this time.  I love you all!  I hope you have an amazing week! Pray hard and leave everything else to the Lord. I love you all!

Love,
Kate

PS... OMA, KIM AND BIG G!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!  I LOVE YOU!!!

"I'm Sorry...I don't have the Priesthood" 03/19/2012

Hello family and friends!


Well this week was a huge miracle.  So we have been teaching this girl named Mariah.  She is awesome and sooo solid.  The other day we went over there and we had planned to teach the plan of salvation.  Then we really wanted to put her on date to be baptized.  So we go over and we teach the plan and she's all happy and what not and then the thought comes to my head... "this will lead great into the commandments... just teach it all", So we did! haha it was so awesome!  Me and Sister Chronister just went in and taught like it was nobody's business.  We had barely even planned what we were going to do and we could just read each other so well that it worked great.  So after the lesson I just looked at Mariah and said, "so do you want to set a date for your baptism?"  She thought for a few minutes and was like "well I don't have a specific date in mind" so I said "well... you can do it this Sunday or next Sunday" haha and she thought and was like "okay how about this Sunday."   Me and Sister Chronisters mouths were probably on the nasty floor at this point haha it was so great!  So then I said "well who would you like to baptize you?" and she pointed to me and said "you!" hahaha I about peed myself.  In my head I thought well we better go over that lesson again haha. So I just looked up and said "I'm sorry I don't have the priesthood" haha.  It made me feel really good that she would ask me to do it though.  So needless to say we worked our butts off and got everything ready for the baptism, and yesterday Sister Chronister and I were able to witness the baptism of Mariah... It was amazing and the spirit was tangible.  Sister Chronister got to give her first missionary talk at a baptism and I was definitely a proud mom haha.  Sister Chronister is an amazing teacher and she knows how to bring people into sacred space with the spirit.  She is my hero!  The beginning of the week was a little tough.  I won't lie, after about 15 months of not seeing the sun you start to go a little crazy.  So one morning I woke up and I was trying to study and it just wasn't working.  I looked at the window and watched wet snow and rain just pour down.  And all the sudden for no good reason, I felt my eyes start to water.  I look across the table at Sister Chronister and she is looking at me like "dude... what is your problem" haha.  Its okay I just had a little breakdown because the sun was gone.  No big deal.  Later that day I guess Heavenly Father decided to give me a break because the sun finally poked out for a few minutes.  I was really grateful for that tender mercy because it was a way for me to see that Heavenly Father really knows me and he knows what I need. And he loves me enough to show me the sun for ten minutes when I need it.  This week I was also to have another one of those tender mercy feelings.  It was at Mariah's baptism when we sang the song "I feel my Savior's love" oh how I love this song.  It brought a tear to my eye as we sang. And I know without a doubt that my Heavenly Father and Savior love me.  I know that they know what I need and they know how to fix things for me when I can't do it on my own.  I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings that peace into people's lives.  I know it does because it brings me that peace every single day.  I am grateful to share this message with others.  It is an honor to wake up every morning and put the name of my Savior on my shirt and go out and work.  That is what I want... I want to finish and work so hard because that is what my Savior did and still does for me.  I love you all and I hope that you too can recognize some of the little tender mercies that you see from Heavenly Father every day.  They may be as small as seeing the sun. I love you all! Have a great week!,

Love,
Katee

Teaching Pool 03/12/12

Hello Everybody!


How are you all doing?  This week I am doing pretty good.  We have had a lot of ups and downs this week. First off... We now have an actual teaching pool!!! yay!!!  It's awesome because they are all in the ysa ward. The ysa ward hasn't seen a baptism in over 6 months... so we are pretty excited.  We taught our first lesson with Mariah last week and it went well.  She is so excited about the gospel and it helps her so much.  We asked her what made her want to learn more and she said "I dunno... I can't explain it... it just feels good." So in my head I'm like uh yeah that's called the spirit haha, so it was pretty cool.  She is working on a few things and will hopefully be baptized within a couple weeks.  Zebediah is doing well he came to church yesterday and enjoyed it.  Sister Chronister and I were asked on Wednesday if we would speak in the ysa ward on Sunday.  My topic was "doing the right thing at the right time without delay" it was an Oct. 2011 general conference talk.  So of course I was a little stressed about it but not too bad.  Its so weird before my mission I had to write my talks word for word and now  can't do that.  Its like impossible.  So  wrote a few notes down and winged it again.... haha people complimented me on it so  guess it went okay.  I ended up talking for like 18 minutes haha oops... Sister Chronister also did a great job.  This past week we also taught seminary for two days for Sister Leach because she went out of town.  It was fun.  It was way hard to get my butt out of bed earlier than 6:30.  Haha actually Sister Chronister got her butt outta bed and showered and I got outta bed and threw on a skirt and showered when we got back haha hey a girls gotta sleep.  I don't think I have had 8 hours of sleep in like 6 months... crazy I know.  So anyway that was good, and I have actually thought about being a seminary teacher so I guess we will see.  Things in the ysa ward are going great.  All the kids love us and it is fun to build friendships with them, and then to see them want to help us is so amazing.  This week I am so thankful for faithful members of the church.  I am thankful for their willingness to serve and the love that they show to us and to the Savior.  I am grateful for an amazing companion!  Its funny but we can pretty much finish each others sentences.  I love it!  I am thankful for my Savior.  I know he lives!  I'm thankful for the restoration and for the privilege that I have to carry that message to share with others.  I love my mission.  I can 't believe how fast it is going!  I hope you all have a great week!  Mom and Laura Ii hope you had a great bday, and grandpa happy bday tomorrow!  You guys rock!  I suck at letters I will work on that!  Love you all.

Love,
Kate

Sister Chronister and Sister Balmforth

Sister Chronister making dinner for the sick Sister Balmforth.

Feeding the animals at a members farm.

At the Navel Base, Sister Chronister and Sister Balmforth

With Sister Finnegan

Elder and Sister Finnegan

Looking for Agent Gibbs?

Stealing the Elder's bikes for a little joyride.

Spending the holidays with the Finnegan's family.

Happy Birthweek Mom!!!

Hello everybody!


Okay so I feel like I have so much to tell everyone and its crazy... So this week has been great. The work had been a little slow but last night a huge miracle happened!  So let me tell you about it... So on Saturday the zone leaders call us and say "hey sisters we are having a baptism on Sunday and she is ysa age so can you get some ysa people to come for fellowship?"  Me being the nice person I am said "of course" without even being mad that they didn't let us teach this girl haha.  So anyway... Sunday comes and we were in meetings all day.  I mean all day.  We got to church at nine thirty and got home just before nine.  Anyhow... so we go and I was talking to the elders and then all the sudden I look down the hall and see this lady that looks very familiar.  Then I did a double take and looked again and I realized that it was a lady named Alethia that I knew in Sequim a year ago!  She was very less active and at the time she had heart surgery so we would go visit her a lot.  When I was leaving Sequim we hadn't seen her and we pretty much thought she fell off the face of the earth.  So I walk down the hall and I turned to her and said "hello! do you remember me?" (I didn't think she would) And she said "oh my gosh of course I remember you!  My daughter is the one getting baptized tonight!"  Oh my gosh it was the coolest thing!  The lord totally knew that I needed this miracle.  Because just the other day I was feeling like my less active work wasn't working... and last night I saw and learned that I am ALWAYS planting seeds.  It was really amazing to see Alethia stand and bear her testimony to her daughter.  I got teary eyed as I watched this.  Because just a year ago she wasn't doing very good and I would have never thought that she would be bearing her testimony.  It was definitely a tender mercy that I needed.  And also her daughter has a friend that is interested in the church so we will start teaching her!  Another cool thing that just happened, was we got to go down to Bremerton on the base there and tour an AIR CRAFT CARRIER!  We went on the USS John C. Stennis!  It was so awesome!  I felt like I was on the movie Pearl Harbor haha we got to go up on the flight deck and everything.  It was awesome!  I also want you all to know that I talked with President Weaver today, and my release date will be........ May 23,2012!  So you can all save the date :) This week Pres and Sister Weaver have challenged us to read preach my gospel chapters 1 and 2 and it has been really great to do that.  I read a quote that was cool it said "as your understanding of the atonement of Jesus Christ grows, your desire to share the gospel will increase.  I thought that was really cool.  Sister Chronister and I are still doing great!  I love her to death! I hope that we can stay in Silverdale until May!  The other day we walked out of our apartment and we saw something that wasn't very familiar.... THE SUN!  So I was being funny and I started singing "the sun will come out... today" and Sister Chronister goes "take that Annie!" hahaha it was so funny... I guess you would have needed to be there. lol.  Well anyway... we are looking forward to the coming week and we are hoping to see lots of miracles.  I am doing good. I  feel better and better every day.  I am so grateful to be serving at this time in my life. It has brought me more joy than I can even explain.  I love being tired and worn out and even on the verge of tears every night because I feel like that.  Lets just hope my body can take it haha.  I am so grateful for the love and support that I have.  I am grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ and for the atoning sacrifice that he did for me.  I know that he lives.  I am grateful for the young prophet Joseph Smith who had the courage to simply ask.  I know that he saw the father and our Savior and I am so grateful to know these things.  I love you all and hope you have an amazing week!  Keep us in your prayers!  OH AND MOM! HAPPY BIRTH WEEK!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU!

Love always,
Kate