Merry Almost Christmas 12/19/11

Hello family and friends!
How are you all doing? Today I am doing pretty well. This past week I won't lie... it has been rough.  But very good learning experiences for me.  I have been a little "under the weather" mom no need to worry... its just a little cold or something.  But its been hard to want to do anything.  But I haven't stopped so the work is still going on haha.  Grandma your 12 days of Christmas have just been making my week!  Thank you so much!  So I honestly don't know what to say about this week because I feel like not much has happened. We have been working really hard trying to find people to teach and it just doesn't seem to be working.  So the other night I asked my companion Sister Chorister if she would like to fast.  So we fasted for 24 hours so that we will be able to find people.  I know that the Lord is about to give us a miracle... I can feel it.  It always happens after satan beats you down.  And that's kind of how things went this week so this coming week should be great!  I am so excited for Christmas!  I can't even wait to talk to you guys! I t will be the best Christmas ever!  I am really sorry I don't have much more to say.... this week was hard but good. We helped a lady on base clean her house so we are hoping that she will come on a church tour this week sometime. This holiday season I am sooo thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ.  I know with all my heart that he lives!  And that he died for each one of us.  I have no idea where I would be without him.  He is my older brother who I love so much!  And it is because of his sacrifice that I can be with my family forever!  The biggest thing that I have learned so far on my mission is the eternal perspective!  Being with my eternal family brings me more joy than I can even explain.  I love you all so much!  I love my Savior and Heavenly Father.  I know that they know each of us by name and they know our needs. And I know that they bless us with miracles every day!  Even when Satan is stupid. :) I love you all so much and I hope that you have a very Merry Christmas, and that we can all truly remember our Savior... because he is the true Miracle! I love you all! Stay Strong!


Love, Kate

12/12/11

Hello family and friends!


This past week was pretty good. Thank you all so much for the birthday wishes.  I loved it!  And to all those who put money in my account or sent packages I really appreciated it. The packages saved me because I won't lie it was a little rough celebrating a bday without my other half.  So mom and dad thank you and also, Calee, Dave, Kels, Riley, Mer and big g, and girls, Court and Healey family, Brooke, and Lynnette, Grandma, Jodi  thank you sooo much! Marilyn and Allison and Patti and Hope thanks for the letters! You guys are awesome!  I hope I did not miss anyone, but there are so many people who are so generous and I can't express how much I appreciate all of you.  So I was well taken care of on my birthday.... The Finnegans surprised me and got me a HUGE basketball cake with the number 11 on it!  It made me cry haha they are truly amazing and I love them so much.  They also bought me some slippers. haha. Kelsee, I am sending your bday package today!  Sorry it took so long but with transfers it was crazy!  So look for it probably Wednesday.  I am also workin on Christmas cards for everyone so sorry and I will hurry! This week has been kind of slow.  We werent able to teach any investigators!  The one family that we are teaching on base bailed on us and I was sooo bummed!  Sometimes I just wish these people could see the bigger picture!  Like really... come on people haha this is salvation here!  But hopefully we will meet with them tomorrow! So tomorrow is our mission Christmas  party in Tacoma and it should be really fun!  Me and Sister Chronister played some mean bball today with the elders.  It was so great!  I could actually defend someone and dive on the floor and everything!  We even fought over a loose ball!  Yeah I would say that I totally won at it but I don't want to be boastful haha just kidding... kinda.  This week has been good.  My main focus right now is to work my butt off because I am about to hit my one year mark and that is crazy!  So I just want to give the Lord everything I have for the next few months!  I can't believe how fast it will go! We are also trying our hardest to tract and to find investigators.  Sometimes its hard I feel like I am on such a high seeing miracles like Will and then it goes to nothing!  Its hard sometimes but I know that the Lord is going to provide us with a miracle!  I know that he is there and that he hears my prayers.  I love him so much. My love for my Heavenly Father and Savior has truly grown so much and it is so hard to explain.  But I do know that he lives and that he loves us!  And this Christmas season I hope that we can all remember the true meaning of Christmas and remember the sacrifice our Savior went through for us!  I love you all so much! Have a great week!  And if you could include me and my companion in your prayers so that we can find some people to teach that would be great!  Thanks!  I love you all so much and can't wait to here your voices in two weeks! Stay Strong! You are the Miracle to me!

Love always,
Katee

I gots me another GREENIE!!! 12/06/11

Sister Balmforth, Sister Holman and the Graves Family

Hello family and friends!

I once again feel like I have so much to tell you and so little time... so here it goes.  First off a shout out to my favorite twin sister ever!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY on Sunday my other half!  I hope you have a great day and know that I will be thinking about you all day.  I will even make a funfetti cake haha and we all know how good at that I am.  So anyway.... as you can tell from my title, I am training again.  It should be fun and I am excited.  I picked up my new companion in Tacoma yesterday and so far she is great.  Her name is Sister Chronister from Tuscan, Arizona.   And guess what!?......She is a baller! yahoo! she played in high school, and everything.  She is like 5 foot 8 or so!  So it will be fun.  We were talking on the way home and we discovered that we are both in love with basketball and we about freaked haha, yes, I almost screamed like a little girl haha just kiddin.... kinda.  So anyway... then later last night we were talking and some how our high school jersey numbers came up and she told me that she was number 11 and then I really thought that was crazy. Haha, but it was way funny cuz when I told her I played basketball she looked up and said "God loves me." haha it was funny.  So I don't know her to well yet but she seems great!  So saying goodbye to Sister Holman was tough.  It was really hard for her to leave because this was her first area, but she will be great! She is now in Tacoma. This week I learned a lot.  It has been a little slow for the work but I know that it will pick up soon.  We are teaching a family tonight that are eternal investigators and I just hope and pray that they will be hit hard with the spirit.  So anyway... this week the phrase "you are a daughter of a heavenly father that loves you" really hit me hard.  I have said this so many times growing up and saying the yw theme but it really struck me the other day how much my heavenly father really does love me.  And seeing Sister Holman crying over these people that she loves so much made me think of how my earthly parents must have felt sending me off, and also how my heavenly father must have felt when he had to send us down to earth.  I felt like I truly caught a glimpse of that this week and it makes me love even more.  I love the people of Washington... they make me so happy. The other day I got a phone call from Emily Alstead... and wow that was awesome!  She called and said "hey, I have a question for you" and I said okay and she said me and Matt are getting married in August, will you be in my wedding!  I was so excited!  Matt and Emily are going to get married in the temple in August!!!!  I can't even believe it so me and Sister Craig will be in the wedding!  How cool is that?  Also saying goodbye to Sister Craig yesterday was a bummer.  But its all good. She is going to come visit you guys at the first of the year!  So that will be awesome!  Family and friends I want you all to know how much I love you and how much I love the gospel of Jesus Christ!  Over the past year I have seen the atonement change people.  And I have seen it change me and it has helped me become the person that I am now.  I am so grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ.  I am thankful that he payed the price for me.  I love you all so much and I can't wait for Christmas!  It is the best time of year!  Have a great week!

Love always,
Katee

PS  Brooke thanks for the bday stuff you are awesome!  I haven't opened  it yet, haha I am being good til Sunday! love you!

Hello 11/28/11

Hello family and friends!


Wow... I have so much to tell you, and I actually will have a little more time today because this morning my companion had to go to the doctor and they had computers there!  So I read my email there and now I can just write.  So anyway... what a week.  Man I have mixed emotions about holidays on a mission because it is soooo hard to see people and when you tract no one wants you there haha.  So the past few days were a little slow but it has been good and it should pick up again.  Oh and before I forget... transfers are next week so don't plan on an email til Tuesday.  And if it doesn't come don't stress haha. (mom) Okay so for starters we had a great thanksgiving... we ate with the Leach family and the Bison family first and then we went to the Graves family.  It was great, and my skirt almost didn't fit by the end of the night! :)  So that was great!  Oh okay sorry this email is going to be sporadic cuz I am all over the place today but Riley happy birthday this week!  I hope you have a great day!  Make Kelsee spoil you.  Okay so on to some more stuff. This week has been really great for me in more of a spiritual sense I guess.  I have learned a lot and I am so grateful. Yesterday during sacrament meeting it was the most amazing feeling in the world to look up and see one of our recent converts blessing the sacrament for the first time.  The spirit just hit me like a ton of bricks.  It was so cool.  Then Brother Leach spoke in sacrament meeting and he read a letter that they got from Matt a year ago when him and Colton were companions.  The love that those two had for each other was indescribable. Matt described how he felt when Colton was transferred and it brought tears to my eyes.  And I think it was at that moment that I began to realize how much our Heavenly Father loves us each individually.  He knows us so well and he knows where we need to be.  As I sat in sacrament meeting I felt my Saviors love for not only me but for everyone.  I know that he loves us beyond measure and Ii am so thankful for him.  I also had some time to read my patriarchal blessing this week. Every time I read it I learn something new and I am so grateful for it.  In my blessing it tells me that I am responsible to proclaim the gospel to all those who will hear it.  I think about that and I think how special that calling really is.  And how much the Lord must trust me with his children here in Washington.  This was another thing that happened that helped me more fully understand the love that our Savior and our Heavenly Father has for us.  I also received a letter this week that reminded me of my old high school days :)  In the letter this amazing person told me that she is glad that she is on "the winning team." And I thought about that and I realized that we are all on the winning team.... sometimes we just have to remember what jersey we wear.  And sometimes that is hard.  This week I also had a dream about my sweet Grandpa Harward, and I was so thankful because it was another way that I knew Heavenly Father knew me and what I needed.  But anyway... I have truly felt my Saviors love this week and how grateful I am for that because it is always hard to be away on holidays.  So anyway... sorry this is so sporadic but I don't want to forget anything.  I received a cute candy gram from our primary girls this week and I want them to know how thankful I was for that.  Also mom and dad THANK YOU so much for the birthday package! I love it! haha on Saturday we got a call asking us to teach the gospel doctrine lesson in the ysa ward haha I have never even been to gospel doctrine lol but it was fun.  We had like really no time to prepare.  Its amazing how the Lord blesses you when you are a missionary haha you can totally just wing anything and it comes out pretty good.  So that was funny, and Ii will miss that gift of wingin it when I am no longer a missionary!  Anyway, family and friends I love you all so much and hope you are doing great!  Have a happy holiday!

I love you all so much!

Love,
Katee

Happy almost Turkey Day! 11/21/11

Hello everyone!


I hope you are all doing well! This week has been pretty good.  Yesterday Will was confirmed in church and it was great.  As we were sitting at church yesterday... We sang the song "all creatures of our god and king" and the spirit hit me.  I can't really even explain it but I love that song and I am so grateful for my Heavenly Father.  Since being here is Silverdale I have really come to see that Heavenly Father is aware of me and that no matter what or no matter how long it takes he always answers my prayers.  This week for thanksgiving things should be great! I am really excited!  This ward is great and we have like three or four places to stop by for dinner.  The Leach family is great and we will stop there for sure and then we will see a couple other people. And we get a present on the holidays! NO TRACTING! Hahaha I know I shouldn't be so excited lol but tracting has been difficult lately and it is really hard to want to get out of the car and go knock on someones door who really doesn't want you there haha but its okay we will do it because we are asked!  So not much else happened this week other than Will getting the Holy Ghost!  Another investigator was supposed to be baptized but he bailed on us like three times this week so we will see what happens. So because it is Thanksgiving and all I wanted to tell everyone what I am thankful for this year. SO it might be a long list haha.

1.I am thankful for my eternal family! And for all the support they give me!

2.I am thankful for my best friends and ward members.

3.I am thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ, and grateful that it has changed my life.

4.I am thankful to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

5.I am thankful for a winter coat to with stand this Washington weather.

Okay so that was just a few things but I am running out of time.  So family and friends this week I want each of you to know how THANKFUL I am for you!  I am so thankful for my savior Jesus Christ. I know that he lives and loves all of us. I hope that in this holiday season we can focus on him and the sacrifices that he made for us! I love you all so much and hope that you have a great week and a happy Thanksgiving. Tell  Wendy Roesbery that I will miss her call on Thanksgiving! :) Love you all.

Love, Kate

P.S.   Grandma and Jodi, THANK YOU SO MUCH!   Brooke, Emily, Court, Marilin, Carol, and Mom thanks for the letters! You will have some soon!

Also, Laura I want to write you back but I was transferred and don't remember the address you gave me? Mom can you get it to me?  Thanks! I love you guys!

Hello 11/14/11

Hello everybody!  Sorry I am later in emailing today, I just got done tearin up the elders in some basketball haha just kidding.... kinda :)  So anyway.... this week has been AMAZING!  I feel like I have so much to say and so little time... so here it goes.  Will was baptized last night and it was amazing! Thank goodness!  HE is a miracle and I am so glad that I got to see him baptized.  I also got to speak so it was fun.  WE are hoping to have another baptism this Saturday so the work here in Silverdale is going great and I am loving every minute of it.  Transfers are already in three weeks and I can't believe it!  I hope more than anything that I can finish my mission here in Silverdale, haha that's like 4 and a half more transfers so I guess we will see how much president loves me haha. This past weekend we had a sisters conference and it was so sweet.  We all get there and President and Sister Weaver are like well pack in the cars we are taking all of you out to eat!!!!!  Oh my gosh it was great we went to The Old Spaghetti Factory!  I loved it.  Then we went to Savior of the world!  The Tacoma stake put it on.  Then we went and talked all night long.  Sister Craig and I had a lot to catch up on haha we stayed up talkin til like 1:30, haha President was like "hey the rules say you have to be in bed at 10:30 it never says anything about sleep" haha, so it was way awesome!  I totally needed it! All my sisters that I know and love are going home in three weeks and it makes me so sad.  It will be okay.  I will be like one of the oldest sisters in the mission now.  Way weird!  The time is just flying! ah!  This week was weird because I had a lot of dreams with family and friends in them, and I never dream or remember dreams so that was pretty interesting!  Mom and Dad, I am so glad that Sister Finnegan called you.  We were leaving a lesson that night and she got all choked up and said " you girls are amazing, the whole time I was sitting in that lesson I just thought... wow I wish their parents could see this!"  She is so sweet!  So she was like... wait... I can call them haha, so she told us both to give her the phone numbers!  Also last Monday we were tracting and the Leach family drove by and told us to come over for dinner!  It was so great!  Truly an answer to my prayers because I haven't seen pics of Colton in like ten months and they showed me all the ones from his blog!  I thought I was in heaven! Mom, can you send me the one of him baptizing in the river!? Man, my bro is so cool haha!  So anyway... the work here is great!  I love it so much!  I am going to have a real hard time leaving my mission in a few months.  I can't believe how fast it has gone.  My testimony of my Savior has grown so much and I know that he lives.  I know that the only way to get back to our Heavenly Father is by following the example of our Savior.  This week eternal families has come up a lot and how grateful I am for MY ETERNAL FAMILY!  That is probably the biggest lesson I have learned on my mission so far... eternal families.  And I have learned that that is what brings me the most joy!  I love you all so much!  Write soon! Stay strong!

Love always,
Katee

Miracles!!! 11/7/11

Hello family and friends,
Okay so I have so much to tell you and so little time on this lame timed computer haha, so I hope that I get everything out.  Sorry but I probably won't use correct punctuation in this email haha.  Okay so anyway... here it goes.  Silverdale has been a great area!  I told my companion that I want to ask President if I can stay here for the rest of my mission haha and knowing President if Ii asked I would probably have a good chance. So this week we have been working a lot with the Finnegan's!  I love them so much!  So they visit all the less actives on base and stuff and they found this girl and talked to her.  Her husband, Will was under way at the time! (under way means deployed for the navy, so he is on a sub)  So she said that he would be home in a few days and she wants him to meet with us.  So, then a couple days later we get a media referral on our phone saying that she wants a Book of Mormon.  So we take her one and she is so excited cuz she wanted it for her husband.  So then the Finnegan's visited them when he got home and set up a church tour for us.  So that was cool and we were happy.  They come to the tour and this guy is a MIRACLE!  So we start the tour and he was like "oh yeah this building looks like our last ward" me and Sister Holman were so flippin confused.  So then we move in to the chapel to talk about the sacrament and he like knows everything.  So, then I was like, are you a member? haha and he said well, I think so... and then he said " I think I was baptized but not confirmed!"  So here is me like trying not to choke haha so I was like "oh well don't worry we will call salt lake and check and then he was like "yeah i love this church it is so family oriented and that is what i need." so then we asked him if he would be baptized if there werent any records and he said "YES!" So they leave and i call sister mcquire in the office and and tell her that we just had a miracle and we need her help. so she calls Salt Lake and then calls us back and I answer and she says " it must be your lucky day!" haha they have no record on him.  So, he will be baptized this Sunday!!!!!! yeah!  It is so amazing!  I might have said this last week but when grandpa died, President Weaver gave me a blessing and he told me that I would soon reap the rewards of my labors in Rochester.  So this week I learned that everything is in the Lords time and because I worked my butt off in Rochester he is blessing me in Silverdale!  So it was way cool.  We also met with Franz.. he is a cool guy.  I taught him the word of wisdom and he was way distraught about giving up coffee.  So I was way panicked and then he bailed on our appointment the next day.  So I was just praying my heart out that he came to church! and he did!!!!  It was awesome!  He came in a suit and tie and everything!   He will hopefully be baptized this Saturday!  And we also have another "sisters conference" or slumber party as I like to call it this weekend!  So it will be way good to see Sister Craig before she leaves in a few weeks!  So it has been an amazing week!  I love this gospel with all of my heart!  I know it is true!  I KNOW that my Savior lives and loves me and that he understands me.  Today for p day we went to the naval base museum so that was cool.  I will send pics soon!  I love you all so much!  I love being a missionary.  I feel like Ii come closer to my Savior every day.  I know that this is the most important work on earth, and that I need to work hard because I don't have much time left!  I love you all so much and I hope you have an amazing week!


Love always,
Kate