"I seem to get picked for everything" 12-15-2010

Hola Familia!

 

      Thanks for forwarding the pictures from Barry and Ben its fun to see those. So I went to my first zone conference yesterday, it was combined with another zone so I got to see my old MTC companion which was fun. The mission president talked to us for a little bit about Christ and went over scriptures that prophesied about him in the old testament and scriptures from the new testament about those who accepted him and those who rejected him. It was really interesting. The first one we read was Isaiah 9:6 (I think) which is included in Handel's (?) "Messiah" so the song was going through my head the whole time we were talking about it because we listened to a few of the songs on the way. After that we split up into our zone's and talked about church attendance and finding people to teach. Before they told us all we needed to prepare a five minute talk on "the wonder of Christ" and they would call on a few people randomly to speak. So that's what we did after lunch and of course, becausee I seem to get picked for everything since coming on my mission, I was the first one. Good thing I remembered to write it...haha but I think it went well. Oh and at the end they gave us all our packages and some extra goodies that they had collected for us. So I got the Christmas package! I'm excited to open them on Christmas.

 

      So it is still cold here, but I had no idea they closed the airport or that there were blizzard warnings. hmm, the weather hasn't seemed that stormy at least where I am. Though it got down to a low of 6 degrees during the day a few days ago. It was weird because the river across from our apartment was steaming like a hot tub...though I am pretty sure that water is NOT warm. Mainly because of the ice chunks floating down it. I think it's probably going to freeze all the way before too long.

 

      So I don't know how it happened but there were too days this week where we had two dinner/lunch appointments within two hours of each other. ugh. I'm not looking forward to this friday when somehow we ended up with appointments for breakfast at 9, lunch at 12, dinner at 4, and Dinner #2 at 6. It wouldn't be so bad except people usually serve us and the plate is usually so loaded with food (including usually an enormous helping of meat) that I can barely finish but I do anyways because I don't want to offend them.

 

      Oh transfers are coming up in a week so don't send anything directly to my apartment probably Friday through Wednesday until I can let you know next week if I'm still in the same place. I don't think I'm getting transferred but you never really know. I'll find out tuesday morning. Just send anything to the mission office address and they'll forward it. This week I read a really good talk that the mission president gave us by Gordon B. Hinckley. I forgot to write the name down but I think its "Feed My Sheep" or something along those lines. It was given in 1999 and talks a lot about missionary work and how the members can really have a huge impact. You guys should look it up if you can find it. Its really long but good.

 

      We do have some investigators who are progressing, but only very slowly. Usually because they are "too busy" or because they just lack religious motivation in general. Also people always miss appointments, and rarely let us know before. It's a little bit frustrating sometimes. The Brazilian family we are teaching is probably progressing the most, though they also happen to be the most busy. Antonio (the Dad) works almost every day all day at a restaurant in Chicago, and Angelica (the mom) just got a restaurant job too. So they don't have much time for us to teach them and they are both the busiest on sundays because sunday happens to be the busiest day in the restaurant business apparently. We had a really good lesson a few days ago where we talked about the Plan of Salvation. We found 6 new people to teach this week which is really good. Now we just hope they don't "disappear off the face of the earth", which they tend to do here. We just have to keep trying. I think it's particularly hard in this time of year because a lot of Hispanic men work plowing snow which means they never really know when they are going to be working. We have one investigator with a baptismal date, Humberto, I think it's probably the third time in 2 years that he's set one. He really wants to get baptized, he just can't quit smoking. So we're hoping that this time he'll be able to do it. He set it for his birthday in March to help motivate him.

 

Well thats all for this week! I hope everyone's having a great time getting ready for Christmas! 

 

Love,

 

Hermana Kristen West

"Getting Pretty Cold" 12-8-2010

Hola familia!

 

      This week has been pretty good. Its getting pretty cold though, which I don't like. It's been about 19-21 degrees during the day. It makes knocking even less desirable and I think it also makes it harder for me to speak Spanish. haha. I've had a little cold this week too, but It hasn't really been bothering me much during the day, only in the morning. On friday of this week I went on exchanges with another greenie so our trainers could go to some leadership training meeting. So I worked in Bloomingdale (English) with Sister Parker. Our first appointment was with a new member named Jack and we were going to teach him at the church, he didn't end up making it, but I started talking with the sister from the ward there who came with us for the appointment. She was asking where I was from and she said she had a son serving in that mission. At that point I remembered that she said her name was sister Davidson and was like "Oh I think I know him!". Yup. The same Elder Davidson who served in the ward back home all summer. It was really funny, and random. The one day I work in the English program I meet his Mom. haha. I also walked over and saw his missionary plaque on the wall. So that was cool. The rest of the day wasn't overly exciting. I'm discovering that white people are generally less friendly when you're knocking....

 

      I have discovered my new favorite holiday drink. It's called "ponche" and I'm still not sure exactly what it is but it tastes like Christmas. It's kind of like apple cider, only red and made by boiling various fruits and spices together. I've had it twice and the first time though I was a little bit uncertain because it had mysterious chunks floating in it and the lady gave us a plate and told us it was for the parts that weren't edible. So I spent the rest of the time trying to figure out exactly what was edible and what wasn't because I didn't recognize anything that was in it. One of them was sugar cane I'm pretty sure. It tasted really good though.

 

      The branch president and his wife (Pres. and Sis. Urrutia) are from Guatemala and when I told Sister Urrutia that my brother was serving in Guatemala she got really excited and said she had "connections" haha. So we'll see what happens there. Today I think we're going to go bowling with our district so that'll be fun. Oh Happy Birthday Mom coming up this week! And thanks Grandma for the Christmas package I got it yesterday! Sorry I'm running out of time but I did upload some pictures!

 

love,

 

Hermana West

 

 

"Because God Helps You" 12-1-2010

Hola familia!

 

      It's snowing right now! Just a little bit. That's pretty cool that it snowed there in WA too! Too bad school was canceled though I know everyone was probably really devastated. This week I decided that I don't really like it being cold. Especially the fact that it's going to get even colder. The wind makes it all worse it's like it undermines any effort you take to stay warm by finding a way to seep through your clothes anyway. Also after a lesson this someone gave us Popsicles which we didn't really feel like eating. We had another appointment so we just left them outside the car and they were still frozen when we got back. Yup. this week has been around 28-32 degrees. Hna. Gailey was sick this week so we we had to stay in more than usual and we didn't get as much done. She's getting better now though. Thanksgiving was good, we did end up having more of a traditional dinner with trukey and everything, it was good. The elders in the same ward as us were there too. Afterwards we played a little bit of Wii sports so that was fun (my mission president is ok with wii sports don't worry haha). I'm glad Thanksgiving was fun back in Lake Stevens!  and I hope Kevin's teaching went well =D.

 

      Some things that I've learned about food this week: 1. I am a little bit of a wimp when it comes to spicy food. One lady who fed us gave us each a plate full of tacos with this spicy hot green salsa all over it. I thought my tongue was going to burn off. She asked me if it was too spicy and with watering eyes I said "only a little bit" trying not to let the steam come out of my ears. It was really good though. Hna. Gailey was completely fine though...I need to build up more of a tolerance. 2. People like to give us a LOT of food when they serve us. I always end up too full. 3. Pop tastes really weird after you've had something spicy. 4. I really like Mexican food.

 

      On Sunday we taught someone new the first lesson, he seemed really receptive and interested. So much so that he asked us how he could join the Church and pretty much set the return appointment for us. Neither of us were expecting that. We had to explain to him that baptism is a serious decision and he needed to be really sure first. So we asked him to read and pray. He said he would. We also invited him to come to church. So we'll see what happens.

 

      Yesterday we taught this one lady and her kids about the importance of prayer. Her son who's only about 6 or 7 was in the kitchen making himself some food and a little bit later came and sat on the couch on the other side of the room. I wasn't sure if he was listening or not, but when Hna. Gailey was asking why it's important to pray we hear this little voice coming from over there saying "porque Dios te ayuda" (because God helps you). It was so cute! He then went on to say that sometimes at school it's hard for him to speak English but God helps him. Later on through the lesson he grabbed a chair to come sit closer. His older sister (about 9) was also getting pretty involved in the lesson. Little kids can really have a lot of faith.

 

      I got the package of warm stuff you sent, thanks! also thanks for the early christmas gift I think it's really going to come in handy on my mission because the areas are so big! I was just thinking earlier this week how lost I would get if my companion (who's been here about 7 months) got transferred. Driving around this week we're starting to notice more and more Christmas lights which makes everything look more cheerful. It seems to happen only by street though, so some streets have a lot and some streets have none. the sociologist in me is thinking It probably has a lot to do with neighbor competition; "oh the Jones' are putting their lights up we can't let everyone think that they have more christmas spirit than we do!". So once one person puts lights up everyone else does too. Oh, I met Sister Morgan's parents at church on sunday! I was wondering if they were in this area because I remembered hearing the name of the town Elgin. So that was cool.

 

Well everyone I hope everything continues to go great for you! Thanks for all your support, letters, and everything you do for me I really appreciate it!

 

Love,

 

Hermana Kristen West

     

     

Happy Thanksgiving! 11/22/2010

Hola Familia!

      It was great to hear about how everyone's doing this week! Especially Kevin's first experience passing the Sacrament! That's so awesome! So before I start the description of my week I have to say that one of my pet peeves is people who are listening to music in the library through headphones but it's so loud that everyone within 20 feet can hear exactly what they are listening to. Some kid on a computer behind me is doing just this at the moment and I think I might go crazy because It sounds like he is listening to early 1990's video game music. Seriously. and right now its sounding really intense so I think it must be at the part at the end of the game where you have to fight the final monster to win the game. But anyways...my week has been good so far! I got the coat you sent me yesterday, I think it's going to be perfect! I tried on all the winter gear I have so far and I have to say I look pretty nerdy, but the colder it gets the less I care. Also I keep hearing about one week last winter where it didn't get above 0 degrees at all. I look forward to it. I sent in my receipt for my checked bags today so I can get a refund! that will be nice.

      Today we only have a few hours to do e-mails and shopping because they are giving us our main p-day tomorrow for Thanksgiving. I think we might go hang out at the church with some other missionaries from the Zone and play sports/board games. A family in the ward is having us over for Thanksgiving dinner and I'm not sure yet whether its going to be traditional food or Mexican food. But either way I'll be happy. We had a zone meeting yesterday and the Mission President talked a lot about the importance people taking steps to find out the truth of our message for themselves, like it says in the promise given in the Intro to the Book of Mormon and in Moroni. The main steps are reading, pondering, and then asking if its true in prayer. If they aren't doing these things we can't really move on because it's so important. We are just the messengers, they need to find out for themselves if its true or not. So me and Hna. Gailey decided to reemphasize this with the people we're teaching even if we've already talked about it.

      Yesterday we had a really good lesson with the Russomano family from Brazil where we talked about this. It's so great because the whole family gets involved in the lessons. They are also probably one of the loudest and most animated families I've ever met too (at least the parents). Also, we haven't taught them the Word of Wisdom yet but both parents have talked about how they want to stop smoking/drinking. I think they are really ready for the Gospel at this point in their lives. Because their main language is Portuguese I have a really hard time trying to understand them, but most of the time I'm still able to get the main idea of what they are saying. I think my Spanish comprehension is improving, I understand the most during teaching situations. Small talk situations are the hardest especially when I'm asked a question. For some reason questions are the hardest to understand, escpecially when directed at me. I'll be understanding everything just fine and then the moment they ask a question I'm like...."ummm" and theres an awkward silence until I turn to my companion to translate what they said for me. Yeah... Church in the Branch here is good, quite a few people show up every Sunday. The past two sundays they've had speakers from the Stake come so I got to hear it in English and then the translation into Spanish. Dad it's funny that you ask if they sing in tune or not. So many people sing REALLY out of tune. And it seems like the ones who can't hit the notes are the loudest. I haven't been asked to speak or anything yet but I was asked to play the Piano in Relief Society...that was a little bit embarrasing because I didn't know what the first song was until they started singing it and they started singing the second song before I got to the Piano and they were really off so when I started playing It made me sound like I was hitting all the wrong notes. I did the top hand only...I definitely need more practice. The Branch President is a really good guy, he wants the Branch to be a Ward soo bad and gets a little frustrated at the members lack of effort to get involved in the missionary work.

      It's also funny soo many people keep making comments about my curly hair. Either that or they are commenting that I look chinese because, as my companion informed me, the word for curly ("chino") also means Chinese. One lady called me "Chinita" which means 'little curly" or I guess "little Chinese girl". So who knows? haha. This week the weather got a little crazy and there was actually a tornado watch, which I've never experienced before. It got pretty stormy but I don't think there was actually a tornado. I decided it would be cool to see one from a distance, but not if it was coming towards me. Well everyone, I hope that you all have a great week! Keep me posted on everything thats going on! congrats Mom on getting accepted into the UW!

Love,

Hermana West

1st day in Chicago! 11/10/10

Hola Familia!

 

     Well, I'm in Illinois now! It so weird to be out of the MTC now, my mind can't really comprehend it all yet but I know I'll adjust. My new companion is Hna. Gailey, She's from San Diego, CA and has been out for almost a year. Her spanish is good so she'll be able to help me out. I'm serving in Carpenterville which is by Elgin. I'm in a spanish branch and there is a set of Elders serving in the same branch. They're working really hard to make it a ward. My companion says there are a lot of Hispanics in the area so that should be good for my Spanish. Most of them are from Mexico and the runner up is people from Guatemala! So that's cool. My companion says that we get fed A LOT here and that I might gain weight...so hopefully not haha. I'll also need to start building up more of a tolerance for spicy food. I don't know much else about the area yet since I've only been here for like 2 hours. My apartment is really small and smells a little bit like cigarette smoke. We also have a car, which is nice, so I wont have to buy a bike at this point. Plus there are two bikes in the apartment anyway. I got my bedding just now but I still need to find boots and a coat. It's not too much of a rush though it's actually been pretty warm today and yesterday. So I might wait until next week to get them when I can think better haha. I live pretty close to a Target, Wal-mart, and a mall so it shouldn't be too much trouble.

 

      Yesterday was pretty neat. After we got to the airport we met President and Sister Doll and the assistants. They took all our stuff and then we took the L-train into Chicago for a little bit of "fear-busting". The challenge was to give away a Book of Mormon. I didn't give mine away but my fist contact was in Spanish! It was hard to understand him due to my lack of comprehension and the noisy train but it went well. He seemed interested in what I had to say and I taught him a little bit about the church. When we got to Chicago we went and ate deep-dish pizza for lunch at "Pizzeria Oro" (I think). It was good! Then we went on a walking tour around Chicago which was really cool. I came in with 16 other missionaries so we must have looked pretty interesting walking around in a huge group. After the tour we took the train to Downers Grove where the mission office and home are. We went to the office first, which, amusingly, is right by a Hooters. We had about an hour of orientation stuff then we went to the mission home, had dinner, and more orientation stuff. We spent the night there too. This morning we had breakfast then went over to the Naperville stake center to meet our trainers.

 

      It was good to talk to you guys yesterday, even if only for a little bit. Oh and the computers at the Library here give us an hour so you can send me e-mails and I'll have time to read them. Also, It's faster if you send letters directly to my apartment rather than to the mission office so i'll give you my current address;

 

562 Lincoln Ave

West Dundee, IL 60118

 

You'll just have to be careful around transfer time in case I get moved. I think theres an option on dearelder where you can put in a different address than the mission office, so do that. If in doubt of transfers though just send it to the mission office. and if other people ask for my address its probably safer for them to send it to the mission office so they don't have to worry about keeping track of where I am. Oh, can you take my MTC address off of Facebook so people don't send me anything there? thanks.

 

Overall, it's really exciting and I think i'm really going to like the area. My old companion, Hna. Maughan got sent to the border of Illinois and Wisconsin in like farm area so I'm sure she had more of a drive than I did, It's weird that I'm not going to be with her anymore. Oh tell Kevin Happy Birthday!! 12 years old I can't believe it. Super exciting. Well I hope this week goes well for everyone, talk to you again next week!

 

Love,

 

Hna. West

Last Day MTC 11/8/2010

Hola Familia!

 

      Today is my last day at the MTC!!!! I am so excited to leave and get to Chicago....though I am less than excited to wake up at 3:15 to be at the Travel office by 4am. When we get to Chicago our mission president is going to take us on a walking tour of Chicago. I'm really excited, I'm also excited for real food. I'm going to try and call from the airport tomorrow but it's going to be early haha. I also might be able to e-mail again on wednesday so I can let you know how my first day in Illinois goes. It's raining today and I decided that it's because Utah is sad to see me go. But the whole week previously has been really warm and sunny, so we'd started to go to the field for gym again which was nice. They have ladder golf (you know that game with the golf balls on strings that you try to throw and get on one of the 3 bars). I also played a little softball on Saturday which was fun but now my arm is sore.

      On wednesday I did that orientation thing where we demonstrate a teaching situation in front of the new missionaries. That was pretty cool, and we got to wear microphones. It was hard though because we had to do it in english...I accidentally said a word in spanish. We had our last TRC on Wednesday but we had to cut it short because I had to go help with the new district that came into my zone on wednesday. It's weird that we are all leaving now. One of the sisters in my district and one of the Elders left this morning so today we have an extra companion (Hna. Putnam). Ben also left this morning for Chile and he says it's going to take him almost a full day to get there from the time he leaves here! Long time. He's seemed really excited. I saw him yesterday and we got a picture finally. I don't have a copy, but my companion used her camera and said she would send it to me. Elder (Travis) Lund got reassigned to Alabama because he still doesn't have his visa for Brazil, same with another friend I know from school (Sister Powell).

      Oh so 3 weeks in a row now for apostles! This Tuesday we had Elder Ballard come and talk to us about becoming expert communicators. It was really good. It's cool because people say that they never get so many in a row. I even heard a rumor that another one is coming tomorrow, but I'll be gone. and I probably wont ever find out haha. This Sunday we had Sheri Dew come and speak to us for the fireside. It was pretty interesting; she talked about the importance of knowing who we are, of understanding exactly what Christ did for us, and being giuded by the Spirit.

      I haven't finished packing yet so I'm not sure if I'll be sending a package home yet, but I think I will probably have to. It will just be a surprise if you get one or not haha. I'm not sure if they let people pick stuff up for us, but I think I'll probably just send it if I need to. I think I'll be fine with the space so I don't think I'll need another suitcase. Today is going to be full of packing and cleaning I suspect. Right now I'm in the Laundry room waiting for my clothes to dry (They have computers in here for us to use). Also Grandma was wondering if she could come wave me off at the Airport, I'm thinking probably not becuase I'll be with a large group of people and they don't like us planning to meet friends/family.

 

Well, thanks again for all your support I really appreciate it! I hope you all have fantastic weeks!

 

Hna West

6 weeks in the MTC 10/18/2010

Hola familia!

 

      It's great to hear from everyone! It's been another week here at the MTC, and you know whats crazy? This Wednesday is the day I was originally supposed to come in. It's weird to think that I could just barely be starting in 2 days. This week has been pretty good overall. I think I've gotten to the point where I'm used to the cafeteria food (which is probably not a good thing) because it doesn't gross me out as much. Though yesterday's dinner was one of the worst I'm pretty sure the ravioli was leftover from the cannon center or something because it was not fresh. I tried some but then decided to have frosted flakes instead. A much better choice of course. So there's this one tree by the building with the cafeteria that everyone says smells like cream soda (or skittles), Of course I'm too smart to fall for such nonsense but we see people smelling it all the time. This week however, they roped off the tree and put a sign that says "keep out" because the grass needs to grow or something. I thought that was funny.

 

      The devotional last tuesday was really good, his name escapes me now, but he's in the presiding Bishopric. Actually what he spoke to us about escapes me now too.  Oh well. I just remember that It was really good. I'll have to review my notes later. This week I got a packet full of letters/notes form the Lake Stevens ward youth. That was pretty awesome, it was good to hear all the encouragement.

 

      Teaching in spanish is going well. I still have a lot to learn though. The elders in my district are getting a little better at focusing and I hope it stays that way though  they are still really bad at HSI habla su idioma (speak your language). We are trying out this game called "the native" to help motivate them, it only motivates half of them, for half the time, but its still better. For the game one person is chosen at the native and they have to speak in Spanish for the rest of the day. At the end of the day everyone votes on who they think the native is. If someone votes for you you get the point so theres motive to convince everyone that you're the native even if you're not.

 

      Wow I think my timer went super fast today or something because I'm out of time already! I love you all thanks for all your support!

 

Sincerely,

 

Hermana West

MTC Half Way! 10/11/2010

Hola familia!

 

      Thanks for the letters! It's great hearing about the outside world. That's crazy about whats happening with the stakes, I wasn't expecting that at all! I can't believe I am already half-way done with my time at the MTC...but at the same time it feels like I've been here forever. This week has been good I'm still progressing in Spanish (at least I hope). The Elders in the district are really bad at focusing both during class and during their study time so now our teachers are saying we're behind where we should be in learning Spanish. That's a little bit annoying, but hopefully this week will be better because they've been "lectured" a lot about it this week. This week will be our first where we are going to practice teaching in Spanish, which is crazy. I'm excited but at the same time its going to be hard. So we switched rooms since my last e-mail up on the 5th floor of another building. The room is bigger, but we don't have windows, which is a bummer. To make up for the lack of windows they have fake sky lights on the ceiling, which confuse us a little because now we never now when it's getting dark. haha. Also, I'm going to have super toned leg muscles now from going up and down all those stairs all day.

 

      Yestereday was 10/10/10 so we decided to have a party at 10:10 pm. It was epic. We ate chips and salsa. whoo! Also yesterday, I was asked if I would be the new coordinating sister for the zone. So I had to go to some training meetings yesterday and stuff. Basically I will be like...coordinating the sisters. haha like helping with orientation and stuff. So thats pretty sweet.

 

      Wednesday is the day new missionaries arrive and guess who showed up!? Lori Lund! She didn't end up getting her visa to Brazil either. It was really great to see her! So many people are having trouble getting visa's into Brazil right now. I was talking to another sister (sister Powell) that I know from my BYU freshman ward and she said there's like 200 missionaries who are in that same situation right now. Some people are having to be reassigned stateside temporarily. It's that same story with missionaries going to Mexico. One district in my zone who are going to Mexico all just got reassigned stateside (California. Idaho, and Utah) until they get their visas.

 

      Sorry if my e-mails the past few weeks seem short, it's hard to think of new things to say sometimes because every week is so similar here at the MTC. Me and my companion are getting along great and we hope that we will be able to be companions again in Chicago. We'll see I guess, it probably depends on how many sisters there are. Well I hope that everything continies to go well for you all this week! El evangelio de Jesucristo es verdadero!

 

Love,

 

Hermana Kristen West

General Conference in the MTC 10/4/2010

Hi everyone!

 

      Thanks everyone for the letters, I love hearing from everyone! We all got to watch conference this weekend which was pretty cool. Most of us all fit into the same huge room. It was neat to watch conference with all the other missionaries here. The only downside was that we all had to be in our seats early which made for a lot of sitting. My favorite talks were Elder Holland, President Monson, and Elder Oaks. Elder Oaks talk was really interesting. I look forward to when they are printed next month so I can read them again. Did you guys go to the lunch/party inbetween sessions at the church again? Congrats Mom on making it into the UW music ed program! I bet thats a relief. Also it's neat to hear that missionary work back home is going well! Oh, I just found out yesterday that a girl from my freshman ward is going to the Everett Washington mission. Sister Denison, so thats cool. I haven't had the chance to talk to her yet though, I found out because she had a small part in the devotional yesterday, I need to find her some time.

      So they are still keeping us a little bit in the dark about this but apparently my zone has been selected to be sort of a guinea pig zone for some new teaching methods and I think possibly an new expanded version of the "Preach My Gospel" book. We are switching rooms later tonight to the top floor of another building and apparently the rooms are nicer and a little bit fancier which will be pretty sweet, but I'm not looking forward to having to go up all those stairs. Also we may or may not be video taped. So hopefully they will let us know all the info tonight, overall I think it's pretty neat.

     Thats cool to hear about Barry's success so far in Guatemala! Thats so exciting that he's already had some people get baptized! I'm looking forward to being out in the Chicago area but at the same time scared because of the spanish....haha. I've gotten pretty good at understanding when other people here are speaking in Spanish, but I know its going to be another story when I'm around native speakers. This week will be our last week at the TRC (teaching resource center) speaking English...next week we are going to have to start teaching in Spanish! It's going to be so hard, but it will be good for my brain.

      So we had a little excitement in the dorms saturday night. One of the girls decided that she wanted to burn the place down with her popcorn in the microwave. Actually that probably wasn't her true motive but I think it adds dramatic effect to my story so go with it. So the fire alarm went off around 10:15 so we evacuated the building. I thought the whole situation was really funny, but I bet she was really embarrassed. Our hallway still smells like burnt popcorn haha. This morning I met an old mission president of the Chicago Mission at the Temple, he was really excited for me and Hermana Maughan. He told us that there are a lot of spanish speaking people there and the wards are pretty good.

 

My times almost up, I love you all, hope you all have a great week!

 

Hna Kristen West

3rd MTC e-mail - 9/27/2010

Hola familia!

 

      It's weird how long each day is but the weeks go by fast anyway. I can't believe it's already p-day! We get to go to the temple every P-day and we always go really early so we have the rest of the day for everything else. This week has been pretty much the same as last week, learning, studying, and eating. We've been learning spanish at a faster pace this week and I've liked that, though some people in my class are getting more stressed out because of it. It makes my brain hurt sometimes, but I know it will be worth it. Still there are times when I'm a little envious of the english speaking missionaries who get to leave after 2-3 weeks. I haven't seen Ben or Spencer around this week I think they are on completely different schedules than me. I think Spencer will be leaving pretty soon for Tonga if he's not already gone. Two of my friends that I know from BYU (Sister Siwachok and Sister Pace) left this morning for their french speaking missions and I'm going to miss seeing them around a lot. Oh, I figured out a couple days ago that one of the guys who was in my FHE group from my freshman year is teaching spanish just down the hall from my classroom. It was crazy, I didn't even recognize him at first since its been over 2 years!

 

     Oh so by the way I think you guys are sending my mail to the wrong mailbox, maybe Barry's old box? but my mailbox number is 282 and my departure date is nov 9, all the letters I get say box 294 or something with sept 22nd as the departure date. Thanks for forwarding Barry's and Ben's e-mails to me, its really fun to read about how they are doing! I am getting pretty sick of the food here, and I still have to endure 6 ish more weeks of it. bleh. Maybe you could send me some healthy food haha. By this week we're all getting pretty used to the schedule which makes it all a lot easier. I also love it when new missionaries get here so it makes us feel "older" and more experienced. And way cooler.

 

      I have two funny stories from this week; one is just that one morning this week right before it was time to wake up I turned over and hit my face on the wall. It hurt because the wall is really hard. I also have a little bruise on my nose from it, luckily it didn't start bleeding or anything. The other was while my companion and I were studying. She had been earting this package of fizzy skittles that fizzle in your mouth when you eat them. They're a little weird, but anyways when the finished them there was about a tablespoon of fizzy powder left at the bottom and I dared her to dump it all into her mouth at once. She was a little hesitant but she ended up doing it anyways. So all of a sudden she makes this nasty face and I just start busting up laughing because when she opened her mouth all I can see is this white foam that starts coming out of her mouth a little bit. Like she had rabies. So she grabs her mouth and starts laughing so hard that she can't breath. Then these Elder's look around the corner and start looking concerned because my companion looks like she's dying and I'm just laughing. They probably think we're crazy. So she finally gets up and goes to the bathroom to spit it out. My words don't quite do the situation justice, but it was hilarious.

 

Well I'm still doing great here, thanks for all your letters! I love getting them! ioh and this might sound weird but can you send me my Chicago address? I left my packet at home I think and I want to give it to some of my friends who are also on missions so they can write me back once I'm in Chicago. Thanks!

 

Love you guys!

 

Hermana Kristen West

 

2nd MTC e-mail Sept 21, 2010

Hola familia!

 

      This week has been a lot "easier" than last week because I'm more used to the schedule and how everything works and stuff. Thanks everyone for your letters! I love getting them. So earlier last week they moved one of my companions (Hermana Reyes) up to the intermediate level Spanish class because she already knew a lot of Spanish from her parents. So now its just me and Hermana Maughan. Its actually a lot easier becuase theres one less person's opinions and needs to worry about. It also eaiser to study and teach with just two. We miss her but we'll probably see her in Chicago at least.

 

      So I got to leave the MTC on thursday! Hna. Maughan got into a car accident before coming here so she needs to go to physical therapy about once a week now. It wasn't overly exciting or anything but It was pretty sweet to drive around Provo and see my old apartment and everything. We didn't go very far (around that one hospital in Provo) but it was still a fun little field trip since we are usually just confined to the MTC campus and Field. Oh so the cafeteria food is starting to get to all of us and we don't know how we are going to last 7 more weeks on that food. Mom, you would hate it because all they have are refined carbohydrates (no whole wheat) and the vegetables aren't the freshest. Well, I'll live at least.

 

      So the Spanish is going well but I want to be learning it faster. That might make me sound crazy but its true haha. I haven't really learned anything new yet (other than vocab words) because I remember a lot from my Spanish classes. I think it should pick up a little bit this week though. So I think Barry told mentioned in one of his letters that everyone has to prepare a talk for church in Spanish and they don't tell the two who are speaking until like 2 seconds before? Well everyone told us that we would be safe becuase they usually don't call on people their first few weeks. False. They picked me yesterday! I was so nervous, but I think I did ok. Everyone said I did a good job at least. Hopefully they weren't lying. Its good now though because I wont have to worry about it the rest of the time I'm here.

 

      It's really a pretty unique experience here because we have so much time dedicated to learning and studying the gospel. I've learned a lot and the more I read the scriptures I become more convinced of the truthfulness of Christ's gospel. My companion and I had our first TRC on thursday which is where they have to practice teaching and our teacher watches from another room to give us advice. We get to do the first 4 weeks in English luckily and I think it went really well. Hna. Maughan and I do really well at teaching together. She likes to talk a lot and I've always been more of a concise and to-the point speaker so it works out well haha. We felt the spirit really strong while we were teeaching, it was a really good experience.

 

Well times almost out! I love you all!

 

Hermana Kristen West

Kristen goes through security

Kristen Traveling to the MTC

Kristen was on the same plane as Travis Lund an old friend from Kirkland who will be serving in Brazil Portugese speaking.  Grandma Jennings picked them up at the airport.  Cousin Chelsea Macula came for the send off as well.

Kristen's First Letter September 13, 2010

Hola familia!

It's been so crazy here my first 5 days at the MTC, especially after having only a week and a half to prepare beforehand. Everyone here says that the first few days are always the craziest and hardest so I should get more into the swing of things this week. My P-days are on Monday and they should be the whole 9 weeks I'm here. Our schedule is very busy on a typical day if we aren't in class we are either studying, eating, or sleeping. Its been fun learning Spanish, but its also hard. I want to be able to speak it so bad but I just don't know the words haha. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way because everyone keeps making up their own words in spanish. I have two companions, Hermana Reyes from Las Vegas, and Hermana Maughan from Arizona. Hna. Reyes is also here 6 weeks early. They are both going to Chicago too! I've also met 2-3 other sisters going spanish speaking to Chicago and one elder. I wonder if they are rotating more sisters in or something because thats quite a lot! I've also heard of 9 english speaking missionaries going to Chicago who got here the same say. My district is really cool, we have two other sisters and 6 elders, which is a pretty unique experience for the elders because most districts don't have any sisters at all. Most of my district is going to Provo spanish speaking and 2 are going to Dallas.

I've seen Ben around almost every day I've been here but I usually don't have time to say more than "HI". He's going to be here the full 9 weeks too so I'll probably see him around some more and maybe get some pictures. Also, did you know that Spencer Hoffman is here too? He got here the same day I did. I've only seen him once though. It's pretty cool I've run into 5 or 6 other sisters that I know from BYU. It's always fun to see familiar faces. Oh so I figured out if you send a dearelder letter before around 4 I will get it the same day you right it (unless it's sunday) so thats cool.

Oh, so funny story; when I first got here and they gave me my name tag it had a typo on it! The lady asked me if my last name was spelled right and I was like "yeah, but isn't there supposed to be an 'a' at the end of Herman?". Haha so the rest of the day and the next morning I had to walk around with my name tag that said "Herman West" on it. After breakfast they called me up to the front desk and gave me a new one. I still have the old one though so I can cherish it forever =).

Yesterday for relief society (they have all the sisters together for relief society) they had Elaine S. Dalton, the YW General President talk to us. She is such an amazing speaker! Sunday was definitely more relaxing than the previous days which was also nice. There are so many awesome leaders here too, they have so many stories to share and are great at teaching. I have two teachers for learning spanish and the discussions and they're both really good. This week we have mostly focused on learning gospel words, learning how to pray, and to testify. I'm excited to learn more and go more in depth with spanish. My branch president and his wife are super nice. They brought the sisters a stash of food to make it easier on us. Overall the sister are trusted more which is nice.

It was funny to hear about Barry's journey to his first area. It makes me glad I'm going to Chicago where I wont have to risk my life getting on and off the bus and my apartment will most likely be nicer than his is. The spider story also freaked me out. Well I miss you all, but I'm doing great here! Better than my companions who are both overly stressed about learning spanish and everything else. I know that I'm doing the right thing, even though it's hard. Well I should go before I run out of time! Hope to hear from you soon!

Love,
Hermana Kristen West

I'm going on a Mission!

Hey everyone! I'm going to the Illinois Chicago Mission speaking spanish! I leave tomorrow and I'm super excited. My family will update this blog with emails and pictures that I send to them (at least they say they will). So you all get to see some of what I'm up to while I'm gone. I should get home around March 2012. See you in 18 months!

I would love to hear from you - even if we haven't talked in years!

You can write to me here:

Before November 8, 2010

Sister Kristen Michelle West
Illinois Chicago Mission
Provo Missionary Training Center
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604

After Nov 8, 2010 write here:

Sister Kristen Michelle West
Illinois Chicago Mission
1319 Butterfield Road Ste 522
Downers Grove, IL 60515