Christmas Week!!

It was so great to hear from you all! I loved hearing your voices and getting to hear about what is going on. Everyone said that talking with their families on speaker was hard because everyone kept talking but I think ours went well.

I feel bad for poor David but I know he will be well again soon enough! He needs some time to just relax. I had no idea he was getting his wisdom teeth out! Crazy! Did you tell Ben hi for me by the way?

So one thing that I think I am going to need are vitamins. I was going to just buy some at Walmart, but I don't know what I need or anything. That is why I have loving parents like you! Can you tell me what I need and I will get it from Walmart next Monday? I just figure I should be getting more Vitamins!

Another request, I am kind of at a loss for what to cook for meals. I have no idea what to make! Do you have any fast and easy recipes that I would like that you could send me? It is hard living in an apartment where none of the stuff is actually yours so I don't have my cookbooks or anything. I will get over it though. :)

And to answer your question, part member families are common down here yes and a lot of the times it is the dad that isn't baptized. I don't know why it works like that, but it does. But we are working with a few dads and it seems like once their family starts voicing how important it is to them, they come around. It should be cool to see. Hopefully.

To help you out with your Spanish, maybe I will start writing part of my letters in Spanish as time allows. It takes me a little bit longer but if I write a little before hand. I should be fine. And it will be better practice for me. It is crazy for me to think that the next time I call home I should be better with Spanish. Ojala! (Hopefully)

Last night for dinner we went over to a family in the ward and it was so much fun! It was just the 4 of us sisters and they are probably in their late 20s with a 2 year old daughter. It was just so much fun for us all to goof off! Love it! So don't worry about my Christmas night, it was really nice. And it is interesting because today is probably one of the most depressing days in the real world (day after Christmas) but it is totally fine for us because we refuse to believe that yesterday was Christmas. SO CRAZY! 

As far as what this week has in store, we have a lot of appointments and hopefully on Saturday will get to baptize M_____! I am really hoping and praying for a miracle here! His wife wants to start temple prep classes in the new year so I think that should be good motivation enough for him. On New Years Eve they want us to not really be out and about so we are getting together with the other missionaries at around 4 until the end of the night. I don't really know many details about it but last year they watched Toy Story 3 so I am praying for something good! And hopefully yummy food! TAMALES!!! Ha Ha Ha I'm kidding. Tamales really are yummy, I have just eaten like 54 of them in the past two weeks. No big deal though.

Next week we have a new comp training (4th) and I can't wait because all of my MTC district is going to be back together for the day! I am counting down the days because I am literally so stinking excited! I can't wait to see them and hear their stories and just talk to them again! I feel like I haven't seen them in years and it has only been two weeks! O man! I can't wait to serve with them in my area! It is bound to happen sometime!

Well, I love you all so much and I really did love talking to all of you yesterday! I was totally fine the whole time but then when I had to get off the phone I got a little choked up. But it was all good because I was fine after. I think it is easier now because we get to email every week so we don't have to catch each other up on tons of stuff. But that phone call definitely went by way too fast! But in only a few short transfers I will get to talk to you all again. I love you so much and I look forward to hearing more from you this week! Love you!

Kate

New Mission + New Area + New Routine + Christmas = ???

December 19, 2011

Hola!!! Well, I am here! Can you believe it? I certainly can't! But at the same time I totally can because I feel like I was never in the MTC and I have been in Texas forever. Legitimately, it feels like forever.

I am going to be completely honest with you, missions are HARD! I think this week has been one of the most humbling experiences of my life. We have spent most of the time contacting this week and trying to find new investigators but it has been hard. I thought that with the holidays, people would be more inclined to want to hear more, but in fact, they all seem to be more religious. Sister Bricker said this week has been her hardest time finding in her whole mission. I am just super pumped I got to experience that with her. ;) But it is all okay, we have been praying about certain areas and are trying to be more prompted about where to go to contact because we just haven't been having luck.

On the other hand, we have a few families in mind that are totally going to get baptized, I just know it! I will have to fill you in more next week because we will be meeting with them this week. Our mission has a goal of 1200 baptisms this year and we were at 1105 before this Sunday so I don't know exactly where we are now, but closer! Next year the goal is 1400. Yup, 1400 baptisms in one year. We are going to do it! It is a huge number but I know the Lord has prepared those people to be baptized, we just need to find them and prepare them.

Another blessing of this mission (the Lord knows me so well) is that we have a few companionships assigned to each ward. We work with three different wards (2 English, 1 Spanish) and so do other missionaries in our zone, so yesterday at church we were with like 7 other companionships throughout the day. The wards are just crawling with missionaries! It helps me so much to see the progress of the other missionaries and to see us all united in the cause. We just have so many missionaries for our small mission that it is just so dense and I LOVE IT! After a really rough week, it was such a blessing to come to church for 8 hours straight and be able to see the other missionaries and just be uplifted by the gospel. I love it!

Another great thing about having so many missionaries is that we have baptisms like crazy. We had three in our building (29th and Dove, look it up) last night between three companionships (mine included!) and we had to coordinate when and where to do them all. Crazy but it ended up being awesome! We baptized J_____. His wife was baptized a few weeks ago and his two daughters the week after so he was the last of the 4 and I am so excited for them to work towards the temple now. O I just love them!

Another blessing is that the church is in our area so when we contact people, we can tell them that the church is just down the street! So all the streets around the church (I know you are looking this up on Google Earth) are in our area. We have from 23rd Street to Buddy Owens to Sheeryland to Auburn. I think those are all the streets. It is an awesome area! I love it so much!

This week has been full of ups and downs. It started with wondering what I am doing here and getting homesick for Christmas (Chirstmas time + new area + new to the mission + hard week = BAD NEWS). After kicking myself and remembering to forget myself and go to work and getting use to what actual mission work is like, it is actually a ton better! I know this is where I am supposed to be and I truly am happy here. We have a lot of fun. We have another companionship with us so there are 4 of us in our apartment and so we have fun.

So about Christmas, we are going to the Bishop of the Spanish ward’s house for Christmas Eve with the other missionaries in the ward (us, the other sisters we live with, our district leader and his comp, and the APs). Christmas day we have two one-hour blocks of church (one in English, one in Spanish) then I don't know what we will do for the rest of the day yet. I think the 4 of us Hermanas will have dinner together probably. I will be calling you at 3:00 pm Texas time so I think that is 2:00 your time. Just so you are prepared, I might just cry when I hear your voices. I am not homesick, just love you all so much and being in a new area does that to a person. :)

Another tender mercy is that our apartment has a washer and dryer and so the Edinburg sisters come over to do their laundry on p-days and guess who is an Edinburg sister? That's right, HERMANA HOLMES! I loved seeing her today! It has been a blessing to see her and freak about about how the mission is different than expected.

P.S. I love how the Spanish here is so interchangeable. I love being able to turn it off and on whenever because then when I get home, I won't be struggling with English again. I can turn it off and on, and I can teach in both languages too. O my, I am just so blessed!

Well, my time is running out but I would love to hear from you soon! I don't know about printing off letters here at the library (it is on Lark Ave just north of the church if you want to see it) so if you want to hand write more letters, I would be okay with hearing from you more. :) Yes the address you got is my apartment and I should be here for awhile. Hand-writing letters won't be hard I swear. :) I love you all so much and I look forward to telling you more about Texas on Sunday!!!!! LOVE YOU!!!

P.S. I have loved the 12-days of Christmas. It gets me out of bed in the morning.

P.P.S. Grandma Joyce, you are the BEST! I loved the survival kits and my comp loves you too!!!! I love you!!!!

Kate

Updating Kate's Address

Hello to you all!

I will be updating Kate's address as she is transferred and moves locations. Her current address will always be listed on her blog, www.sistergiles.blogspot.com. Just click on the address tab - it will be listed under CURRENT ADDRESS.

Her current address right now is:
Hermana Kate Giles
5301 North 17th Street #11
McAllen, TX 78504

Thanks for your support!!
Teresa

Kate's arrived in McAllen

Here is Kate with her mission president, President and Sister Traynor.

Kate arrived in McAllen, TX December 12, 2011

MTC Week 8

December 8, 2011

I can't believe that I leave in just 4 short days! Or maybe 3. I'm not entirely sure how the counting system works, but I know it is soon. And I can't even tell you how pumped I am that my one year anniversary in Texas will be 12/12/12. I literally can't tell you how much joy that brings me! I know, it is weird, but it is the small things that make me happy now.

So there really isn't a whole lot to report this week. Elder Drollinger was temporarily reassigned to SLC and left on Tuesday morning, Elder Vance went out to Mississippi on Wednesday, then on Wednesday morning Elder Pathakis and Elder Johnson joined our district. Elder P broke his finger so he had to stay two extra weeks, and the Mexican consolate messed up Elder J's birthday, so his visa was wrong. Total bummer, but we like being the district that takes everyone in. I don't know what will happen with them when we leave. We are also now the oldest district in our zone by 5 weeks. It is weird. Everyone is so little. Yesterday we got two new districts. TWO! We now have 19 new Elders in our zone. I wish I had a desire to meet them all, but since I leave in just a few days, I have to focus on other things. Lo siento nuevo misioneros! But it is all good because I did meet one. His name is Elder Bieber and he is from Canada. Yup....Uh huh.... That for sure just happened. I am set on the fact that he is Bieber's long lost cousin.

So how did Annie's bone graft go? I think I am thinking it is more serious than it was because I imagined her out for a few days. I guess we'll talk about it on Monday. And David possibly getting school paid for and getting awesome experience!?!?! How sick! I would tell him personally, but I HAVEN'T HEARD FROM HIM SINCE I GOT TO THE MTC! That is now 9 weeks and 1 day. I am not okay with that you little punk.

That is also cool about your parents meeting. We will have to talk more about that on Monday as well.

Speaking of Monday, I have no idea when exactly we will have time to call because I don't know exactly the plan and when we will be there and such, but I promise a call will occur. And I have no idea what the rules are, but I will call both you and Dad. They will be fine with it. And will Dave and Annie be home? If not, I will just have to talk to them on Christmas. And about Christmas, I think we actually call on Christmas, not the 24th. Is there a specific reason why the 24th would be better? The 25th is on a Sunday, so everyone should be home right?

Well, I love you all, but this week just hasn't been that eventful. We have all just been bustin' our bums to get ready. I am pretty tired but I am going to go take a nap today probably because I don't have a lot of letters to write. :) There is a silver lining to everything. :)

I put all my pictures on a CD yesterday, so when that is done, I will send it to you. I actually think they said it would be on 3 CDs because I had so many. You will just have a field day. You might get it before I call, but probably not. You will have it before Christmas so you can ask me about any of them then, and feel free to put whatever you want on my blog. We have some great pictures with our BFFs too. For sure love it!

Well, I love you all so much! I am super pumped I missed the wind storm! Seriously! I would have loved to be a part of that service!!! I shouldn't say this, but Hermana Holmes and a few of the Elders and I not-so-secretly want a hurricane or something to hit our mission so we can just serve the crap out of everyone. So just know, if something like that happens, we probably prayed it there, and we are having the time of our lives! Love you so much and can't wait until Wednesday!

Kate

Flight Plans

Kate will be leaving for McAllen Texas on Monday, December 12th. Good luck!!!

MTC Week 8

December 1, 2011

I am scared to say this for fear of jinxing myself, but I can't believe it hasn't snowed here yet. I am so happy about that! It actually snowed one night, but it melted before we woke up. It is finally starting to get cold though. :( No me gusta el frio. 

This week has been an interesting week. Thanksgiving ended up being a pretty great day! After I wrote you, we went to a HYSTERICAL Thanksgiving program thing where the presidency pulled missionaries up to dress up and make noises like their animals. It was super funny. We then ate our snack dinners outside because I was determined to have us be a family on Thanksgiving. Afterwards we did a service project of making injury kits for people in the Sudan and then after was my favorite part. We all went into the gym and watched 17 Miracles! I am so happy we got a watch a movie! They even gave us all popcorn! And we got to sit with most of our zone which made it hysterical. I had Elder Drollinger and Elder Sanders behind me and they had to comment the whole time and pretty much it was just HYSTERICAL some of the comments they made. At least they came up with their future plans. They decided to become Levi Savage and live in a cave and dry jerky. Who does that? It was so funny though.

That leads me to the worst experience of the MTC. Our best friends left. It was AWFUL! I love that district so much! But at least we got 2 out of the 9 in our district now! Yup, two! Elder Drollinger has been with us this week and now Elder Vance too. I love him too because he loves Community! He loves my sweatshirt and so we are friends. :) But really, saying bye to those Elders was the hardest thing I have had to do so far, but it is okay because we already have trips planned. We're going to GA for E. Duty and E. Kimball's homecomings and then I'm going down to AZ to play with E. Sanders before we all go to Mexico together. I love that we are all speaking Spanish because then these Mexico trips are going to be AWESOME! O man, it has been rough, but we have refocused and are getting work done. :) 

So apparently we get our travel plans today! If I still have time to write a letter after we get them, I will tell you all about them! I can't wait! I have loved the MTC, but after our friends left, and we became the oldest district, we have all been so stoked to leave! I think we have hit that point where it is just time. It will be interesting.

The Hermanas and I were chosen to do a workshop with all the incoming missionaries last night. It was really cool. We did a practice "How to begin teaching" with a group of incoming missionaries. I LOVED it! We just basically set up the situation and got to know the investigator so the incoming missionaries could start teaching them. I remember that being one of my favorite things on my first day so I am glad I was able to participate in that experience for other people. We also had two baptisms this week! Our investigators both got baptised and we had services for them. It was like funny and weird but sweet and awesome at the some time. Hard to explain. But cool!

This morning’s temple trip was NUTS! We all went to do sealings as a district, but we were all split up! Hermana Oomrigar had to go to a different session. It was interesting. But me, H. Holmes, E. Root, and E. Jackson were in the same session and a girl in our session totally PASSED OUT! Yup, that happened. H. Holmes was being sealed to her and she said it was terrifying because she watched the blood drain from her face. It is CRAZY! But ya, totally crazy! Before we ate breakfast at the temple, we went into the laundry and helped them fold stuff. It was awesome! I just love service so much. I then took a MUCH needed nap and am currently watching E. Peterson LOSE IT because his sister sent him Betos burritos. It is HYSTERICAL. If you haven't realized it, everything here is hysterical, all the time. I just love it here!

-Kate

MTC Week 7

November 24, 2011

HOLA!!!

So today has been INSANE! Thanksgiving at the MTC is just such a treat. Ha Ha. My day started out by waking up at 5:45 to do my laundry! 5:45 on a holiday! Nuts! Then we have just been running around. Elder Nelson came and did a devotional this morning, then we had "Thanksgiving Dinner" and after I email you, we will be off to service projects and more devotionals. Tonight we have a special program for two hours and we are all praying for a movie. Sad, but true.

So we had the funniest experience this week. It probably won't be as funny because I can't use my hands to describe it, and you don't know these people. So once a district leaves, their teachers become floaters for about 2 weeks until they get another district. One of the floaters is Hermano Movick and he is literally the funniest person I have ever met. He doesn't say funny things, he is just naturally so funny that I can never take him seriously. Anyways, he wanted us to come teach him because it wasn't our day to teach our other progressing investigators, so we said alright, we'll come teach you. We walk into the room and he was like "Oh, would you like some water?" Of course Hermana Oomrigar says yes so he goes to the window and fills up three fake cups of water and then tries to balance them as he carries them over to us. Hermana Oomrigar just held onto hers throughout the whole lesson and kept drinking out of it. Remember, this is fake water. Eventually Hermana Holmes and I had to tell her to stop because it was TOO funny, so she put her cup on the table which made us laugh even harder; all during our lesson. Then at the end, Hermano Movick asked if he could take our cups so Hermana Holmes and I hand him our imaginary cups and Hermana Oomrigar didn't know what to do so she said Oh, I will take mine. O my cow! It is HYSTERICAL! We literally still laugh about it. As I sit here and type this, Hermana Holmes started to laugh and I said Oh, you writing the water story and she said yup. It really was so stinking funny.

So our favorite district is leaving on Monday. Sad day. But it will be okay because we will leave just a few short weeks after that! I am getting so excited! By this time next week, I will have my travel plans! We don't know if we leave on the 12th or the 14th. I guess we will see!

Oh, but guess what! Elder Drollinger (Gallagher's cousin) didn't get his visa in time, so instead of leaving the MTC with his district on Monday, he is just joining our district! I wish I felt more sad for him, but I am just excited for him to be in our district. Yes, I did inform him that I wasn't sad about it and he laughed. He is such a funny kid. We were chatting last night and for some reason, he can't say "pep talk." We coached him for a good 5 minutes before he could actually get it. SO FUNNY! AND I was walking past his class one day and he said hey Hermana (pronounced air-man-a, no se porque) my parents said they got a picture of me from my aunt and uncle who got it from your parents. It still cracks me up how small the world is!

Yes I did get your Thanksgiving package! It was much appreciated by the whole district including the teachers. And I love getting pictures! I haven't gotten homesick yet, so don't worry about that. :) BUT if you wanted to tone down the bike safety letters, I would let you. :) At letter time, the Elders always ask me what my parents said about my bike today. It is funny. But they like the bubble wrap idea.

I am trying to remember if there is something else that I needed to respond to you about, but I don't remember. Usually if you ask me things in Dear Elders, I will forget it, but if it is in an email, I will see it right before I email you back. Interesante!

O I just remembered another funny story. We love our district leader, Elder Peterson, because he is literally like our dad. He eats off our plates and everything. Two days ago we pointed out to him that every time he finishes a meal, he leans back and says, "Well.....yup...." just like an old man. We CRACK UP! It is the funniest thing!

I am going to send all my pictures to you on a CD right before I leave as a back up and so you can see more of them. There are some pretty funny ones of our fort and goofy temple trip pictures.

Well, I need to get going. We have to drop Hermana Oomrigar off at a meeting of some sort, but I love you all and I hope you eat extra food for me!

Hermana Kate

Pictures from the MTC

Kate's District. They are all headed to McAllen, Texas

Kate's trio companionship. From left to right -

Sister Oomrigar, Kate, Sister Holmes

This is the room where Kate's district studies.

Don't they all look hard at work.

Kate and her companions cleaning the bathroom on

Mondays. Great service Sisters!!

"I'm Trying Hard to Grow - So Please Don't Walk on Me!"

Of course, Kate would find something funny about the sign.

MTC Week 6

November 17, 2011

Hola! Como estan! I would just like you to know that if you ever tell me to clean the hair out of the drains again, I might literally throw up. Do you understand how much hair is there! BLEH! SO GROSS! Pero, esta bien porque Hermana Oomrigar is the best ever!

That is so awesome that Dad goes out with the Spanish missionaries! I want to hear more about that! It sounds awesome!

So before I came on my mission, I thought I was pretty solid with my testimony, but I didn´t realize how strong it could become. I have had so many spiritual experiences. I just can´t even express it. It is like being figuratively slapped in the face by a spiritual fish every single day. Because everyone is so intune with the Spirit, we get new insights and just eye opening experiences. I think the best experience I had this week was last Thursday night I was having a rough day with feeling inadequate in my missionary work premission and Hermana Holmes was having a hard time with the stresses of the MTC. I had wanted a blessing all day but I didn´t want to say anything because I am tough Kate. I would be fine. Hermana Holmes said right before class that she wanted a blessing and I just looked at her and said I have wanted one all day but felt dumb asking for one and she said she had felt the same way but finally got up the courage to say something. I love her for that. We both got blessings from one of our teachers Hermano Moen. He is like the greatest man on the planet. He is over our zone, so he isn´t one of our direct teachers, but he comes and works with us a lot. Anyways, after getting my blessing, I have never felt so close to Christ in my entire life. It was truly an amazing experience for both me and Hermana Holmes. Hermana Oomrigar was such a rockstar and took notes during both blessings which was a blessing in and of itself. I love her for that. Hermana O had to then go to a meeting, so me and Hermana Holmes just sat and talked about everything when our branch president’s wife turned the corner. I have never been so happy to see someone! She came and gave us a big hug and I just love her for following the Spirit to come find us. The day started out rough but I think it was truly one of the best days of my life. My testimony of how much my Savior loves me has never been so strong. I know I am doing the right thing by serving. I can´t wait to actually get to Texas!

This week we found out that the MTC has the driest air in Utah and that is why everyone is cracking up so bad. My hands are a lot better now because I do my favorite hands and lotion thing. Hermana Holmes thought it was so funny so she had to take a picture of it. And I was on our fort so I looked even better!

Go look at the pictures and find one of Elder Drollinger. We were chatting the other day and he said he has family in Bountiful and I said who and he said my cousin is Shalese Gallagher. HA! I was like YOU ARE JOKING! You have to go over and tell the Gallaghers that me and their cousin are BFFs in our zone! He actually thinks I am crazy but esta bien! He says hi too. He said he visits them sometimes but he isn´t going to come say hi to me when he does because it would be weird. I told him he is crazy and I will make John make him, so pass that message along to John as well. Thanks!

So little Davie is having his golden birthday tomorrow! HAPPY 18TH DAVID!!!!! You are such an oldie now! And your job sounds fun! Did you get my card? It was the sickest card ever!

I did get Maya and Ryans letters. I loved them! I will write them both back soon and send them to our house. And I got the Ensigns. They help me so much during study time. I love reading the words of the current prophets and I was getting to the point where I could probably tell you anything about the last sessions conference. :) I just love it!

I just love being here so much. We have so much fun, but we also get down to business. I feel like I am just spiritually uplifted at all times. Everything is going great. I hope you all are doing well and know that I just love you all!

-Kate

MTC Week 5

November 10, 2011

Hola Familia!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MONTH! I didn't realize last week that your birthday (mom) was before my next P-Day! Lo siento!!!! I am going to send you something when I get down to Tejas! That goes for Dad and Dave too! Although I did get Dave a pretty funny card. You should be getting that soon. Do you have any fun plans? I hope everyone is having the best birthdays ever!!!

And my district leader is the coolest guy ever. (He just told me to write that).

So I am writing you all a letter too, so you will get more stories there. How is everyone doing? I loved the pictures this morning! They were great! I showed them to everyone! And how was the temple this morning? I was able to do initiatories and I just love listening to all the promised blessings we have. I have been a little bit sick lately so breakfast at the temple after wasn't the mejor idea, pero esta bien. My knuckles are cracking hard core down here and I whine about it like every day! Just it only occured a few days ago.

Learning at the MTC is amazing! I just love it here! I literally learn new things every day! And the way they teach is truly inspired!

I am trying to decide what experiences to share from this week but all the days blend together and so it's hard to remember. So many funny things happen, but I feel like it is only funny to us. The MTC is great, but we do the same thing every day, so my stories are all the same. :) We did make a fort this week though. THAT was fun! Our roommates left for the field, so we were trying to cope with our sorrow. ;) It is sweet. We have kept it up for a few days pero we have clean checks tomorrow, so we have to clean it up today. Dumb.

As far as Christmas goes. I have no idea. Pray about it. Hm, hm,hm. I jest. I would just pretty much love anything! I'm starting to get sick of my clothes so new clothes could be fun, but I will be buying boots no matter what, so I am just going to leave it up to you. As a missionary, you come to appreciate any little thing, so I literally would just love anything.

Our president hasn't told us anything about the missionaries in Tejas. I'll look more into it.

So we have tons of devotionals and firesides and such and we have started to play that game where you write a sentence then add to the story and stuff. I have some of the funniest stories now. They literally kill me. Hermana Holmes, Hermana Oomrigar, Elder Duty, Elder Kimball, and I seriously just crack ourselves up. We actually just planned a trip to Mexico post-mission so we have fun AND speak Spanish! And don't worry, I have already teased Elder Kimball about getting to speak with the awful Argentina "sha." Bleh. :) He just tells me "Quiet little missy." It is really so funny! I love the 5 of us! We are like the most fun brothers and sisters ever! (I am sending pictures of them today)

So a few notes for people:

To everyone I had addresses for: I wrote your addresses down on envelopes, then used them, so I don't have addresses anymore, so if you want me to write you, you have to write me first. Sorry.

Michelle and Jennifer Brodegard: Your packages are the best thing on the history of the planet, pero, YOU NEVER PUT A RETURN ADDRESS ON IT! I want to write you girls so give me your address!

Audrey, Sami, and Heather: I wanted to wish you happy birthday, but none of you have written me back so I have no addresses! So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Hope you read this!

Ok, so I love you all and I am sending letters and pictures home today! I just love you all!

P.S. I don't think I need anything else besides those Ensigns unless you want to send me anything else :)

-Hermana Heelays

MTC Week 4

Que en el mundo? (What in the world?)

So we have been going through this phase with our best friend district where we translate American phrases into Spanish and they don't make sense to Spanish people, but we crack up with them. Hence the subject of this email. :) We have also done "To infinite and beyond." Yup, I am making good use of my time here.

I am getting pictures developed today, so it will take a few days, then I will send them to you. For sure I will be sending a picture of the first time I met my other teacher Hermano Russell (we all wore green) and our family picture of the three Hermanas with our favorite district. It for sure looks like a family picture which is hysterical! I feel semi-bad that we sort of love them a ton, but not at the same time. We love our own district too. ;) I will send you a picture of them too. And my roommates, and my lovely running buddy. I just love everyone here pretty much.

Dad-I am sitting by Blake Hawkins right now. He told me to tell you that your memory thing works. :) We have the same schedule as two other zones, so I see Blake all the time. He is doing really well!

So with one of the small notebooks I brought, I started writing down all the funny things that people say. O my cow, it is SO FUNNY! I have some of the funniest friends. I will tell you a few, but I am sure that I will think they are way funnier than you because I actually know them.

1-Our new ZL was leaving dinner and I was making fun of him for some odd reason (I think because he is Canadian) and he said: "You have no idea what us Canadians do when it's cold outside and there is nothing to eat but your sister." I laughed so hard. He and the other ZL seem to think that the Hermanas are never in class so whenever they see us, they say why aren't you in class! But they jest because they are never in class either. O well.

2- In personal study one day when it was totally quiet, Elder Peterson in our district said "Laman is such an idiot." Silly Elder.

3- One of the Elders in another district told me about his chapstick so I smelled it and he got mad and said "Don't smell my chapstick you little weirdo." It was so funny because he just told me to, then freaked. So funny!

Okay, so another funny experience (don't judge me, we have been here for 3 weeks). We had been doing language study for what seemed like ages and we were all a bit loopy or something because the lovely Elder Jackson started acting like he was on a Mario game which caused the rest of us to make the sound effects. So imagine a missionary acting like Mario and the 6 of us making the noises. It was so stinkin’ funny! AND a pokeball may or may not have been constructed. I don't understand the appeal, but Hermano Russell can name all 150 original pokemon, so I guess we’re a poke-district now or something. :) SO FUNNY!

I can't believe I have been here for 3 weeks! It feels like I just got here, but it also feels like I have been here forever! Time doesn't exist here. I finish P-day, then the week goes by so fast that before I know it, I am doing my laundry again! How does this happen! It is nuts!

David- You will love the MTC. It is so sweet! And everyone here is so great! And pray for Hermanas in your district because we "rock the house."

Mom-Will you check my student loans and make sure it was paid today. It is the 3rd.

Annie-I told everyone about your Halloween costume. I am impressed you silly girl.

Dana- How are you doing? From what Mom says it sounds like you are doing well!

Can you guys send me pictures of Halloween and the dance? I want to see everyone!

I love you all so much and I will be sending pictures soon! At the end of the MTC experience I will send home a CD with all my pictures. I already have so many. Look forward to hearing from everyone!!!

-Hermana Giles

MTC Week 3

Hola Mi Familia!

So triste news first. The lovely Elder O'Leary had to go home for medical reasons. We are way sad about it. Loved that goofball!

I told my district that you are sending me pumpkin bread and they about died. Apparently pumpkin chocolate chip bread is good to everyone! Yay!

Lately we have been getting closer to the other missionaries in our zone. I think we have the best zone in the whole MTC. We are branch number 1 actually. Take that as you will. We have a district leaving on Monday morning which is way sad because we grew to love them so much this week. They would always come in and help us Hermanas during language study. They are so flippin' smart! Currently one of our zone leaders is Elder Prows. On Sunday we finally established that he is Ron Prow's grandson! So weird! I will have to send you a picture of us.

Speaking of pictures, I am going to send you pictures on a CD and printed copies with explanations for all the pictures. Then I can tell you all about the most wonderful people on the earth! Complete with hysterical pictures. Seriously, we get pretty crazy sometimes.

So I went to the temple with mi companeras this morning plus Elder Duty (yes I have called him Duty Head before) and Elder Kimball. They are both from Atlanta and are going to Argentina. Love them! They crack me up! They made fun of us the whole way home because it was SO COLD! It has been rather chilly lately! We ate breakfast at the temple though and I think I gained like 45 pounds from this huge waffle I ate. O well, it was worth it.

So I don't remember what I told you about our first investigator, but we were right. He was our teacher. And we love the crap out of him. He brought us cookies on Friday so we wouldn't hate him for not telling us he was our teacher. Funny sidenote, Fridays are Verdes Viernes, and during one of our lessons, we told Cesar about it so on Friday the three of us and Hermano Russell all wore green. It was so funny. We took pictures. Hermano Russell reminds me of a white Abed. Random I know. He is so funny though.

I started writing down all the funny things people say and O my gosh, I have pages and pages already. Most are probably only funny to us because we were here for it, but still, they crack me up.

If anyone is wondering, if you couldn't tell, I am truly having the time of my life here! I love every minute of it! I love getting up in the morning so I can see all the missionaries in the zone and teaching our investigators! I have only been here for 2 weeks and I have taught ten lessons en espanol. TEN! Insane! I am surprised at how fast I am picking up the language, although I still have so far to go!

We got a new district yesterday! We haven't met them yet, but I can't wait! I love not being the new-b anymore! They are all elders though, but that is okay because I seriously love all the elders so much! And since there are only 7 hermanas and 4 are leaving in a week and a half, the elders just love us too! And just so you know, it only took one week for an elder to call me mom. Knew that would happen. :)

Well, time is running out but I love hearing all about your lives and what is going on! The dear elders you have been sending are awesome! I love getting letters every night! So great! Can't wait for my pumpkin bread! Love you all so much and I will send pictures home soon!



Kate  

MTC Week 2

So I will begin by answering your questions (preguntas):
1) Yes I am getting the dear elders you are sending. They print them off every day and give them to us after dinner so I see them every day. We can read our letters every day after class, but can only write back on p-day, which is Thursday. We had a fake P-day last week on Saturday, which is why you got an email from me then. (I prefer dearelders because I get them every day, but I still love getting an email to print out, so pretty much dearelder and packages and emails are all great!) Our district leader gets our mail for us every night then gives us the mail in class, so if I don't get letters, I get depressed. (Just kidding, I just like letters.)
2) Thursday is my p-day.
3) I can check my emails on Thursday. What we do is go to the temple in the morning, then we go check our email and print them all off really quick so we can read them without taking up email time. Then later in the day, during laundry at 12:15, we will write emails back. So email me by Wednesday night, then I'll check Thursday morning, then write back Thursday afternoon.
4) We go to the temple on Thursday morning and so yes I went this morning for the first time here. We did initiatories at like 7 then ate breakfast at el templo afterwards. Yum.
5) We have church in the MTC. Every week we have to prepare a talk en espanol and then the Branch President calls on people at random during sacrament to give them.
6) The food is fine. I wish there was more variety and I wish I could make it myself. It isn't bad though.
7) I think I leave for Texas on December 12th. A Monday? Whatever Monday is around then?
Elder O'Leary says Hi.

So you wanted to know more about my companions:
Hermana Oomrigar sings everywhere. In the shower. Sleeping. It is hysterical. She is from American Fork. She is funny.
Hermana Holmes is just great. She has a belly laugh that is so loud and just makes me laugh every time I hear it. I just love her.

Pretty much I totally lucked out with my companions, district, and zone. As I am writing, they are all yelling things that I am suppose to tell you about them. I will send you pictures of them all because I have become quite the picture taker! I think I will get my pictures on a CD then send it to you. That is probably the best way except then I can't really explain them all.

So did you decide what to do for UEA? I hope something fun! And how was Brandon's wedding?

I did get your package! And the fax. Thanks! It was the wrong grey sweater. I was thinking the one I had for my farewell. And maybe the next time you send a package you can send me some gym socks. I forgot mine. :)

So pretty much I am just loving it here. I wish I had more time to write but I am getting distracted by some magic tricks going on. We are all going to go play! Love you! Look forward to hearing from you soon!!!

K

MTC Week 1

VIVA RANGERS
An Elder next to me just told me that the Rangers are up 3-2. Yay! (Yup, I am wearing my Texas shirt. It's blue with white writing. ;)

So, I know I have only been here a few days, but it feels like I have been here for months. Not that the time has dragged on, I have just learned SO much!!! I taught a lesson to an investigator (pretty sure he is really our other teacher, but Hermano Dushku [yup, that is his real name. LOVE it] won't confirm that) en Espanol yesterday! WHAT! I know right?!?! It was really cool because we spoke a lot more Spanish than I thought we knew. It was probably at least 80% Spanish after only 2 days! SO NUTS!

After you guys dropped me off, we just got to work. We went to class where my teacher didn't speak English for the first 2 hours. No English. None at all. Total immersion. I just stared at him with my mouth open. I found I have been doing that a lot lately. But at least I make him laugh when I do it. He finally broke and spoke English. He is a pretty funny guy.

I am in a threesome with Hermana Oomrigar and Hermana Holmes. We have so much fun together. We never seem to stop laughing, which is great because our district is the same way. Last night we were suppose to be doing personal study before daily planning and we were very productive, but then the last few minutes, one thing led to another and the whole district was rolling with laughter. We have nine missionaries in our district. We are all going to TMM except for one who is going to Barcelona in a few weeks. We have already grown to love each other, which is so fun. The Elders think we are pretty crazy though! We always eat by each other and it usually ends up with someone doing some trick with their food and then it just progresses and we have to leave before it gets too crazy. But I just love them all.

We also have a pretty cool zone. There are only 7 Hermanas, so we are already BFFs. The other Elders in our zone are pretty fun too. But again, when the districts get together, we just have so much fun. Don't get me wrong, we study our butts off and get a ton done, but we for sure know how to have fun. There is also an Hermana that runs on our zone so we go running during gym time. We didn't get gym time until yesterday and I didn't think I would love it, but once you have spent 2 days in the same building (I live and learn in the same building. 17M Love!) you need to get out. I loved running outside around the field and I felt great! I also got a happy surprise by running into Chris Tellington and the lovely Mandie! It was so wonderful!

I don't really know what else to fill you in on because it has only been a few days, but know that I know it. It is interesting because in my companionship, the three of us haven't felt sad yet. We keep waiting for it, but we haven't felt it. We just laugh. We are literally laughing all the time. The Elders are warming up to our humor now and happen to be pretty funny themselves. One Elder was reading a letter from his mom last night and it was taking him forever so we said "Elder, what is up and he replied with, "Hey guys, I can't read cursive, okay?!?!" It took him ten minutes to read a line. So funny! Then our DL thinks it's funny because the Hermanas always ask him about the mail (he has to get it) and he said, "I love how the Hermanas now want to talk to me because I get the mail." I think you would have to be here for most of this stuff to be funny. But just know that I am seriously having so much fun and I am learning a ton! I haven't had any issues yet, minus the blank stares in language class. I have found I am comprehending a lot more though.

I have seen Sister Ycmat here a number of times (LOVE HER) and I just ran into Elder Phillips about an hour ago! (He is doing great Kathie. He looks SO happy!) I have yet to run into Elder Carter but I keep looking for him!)

Anyways, any questions? I don't really know what everyone wants to know about and I pretty much do the same thing every day. But I am sure you will all love to know that I haven't slept-in at all. I am up and at 'em bright and early!

Con Amor-
Hermana Giles

P.S. I sent you a letter, hope you got it.

She's on her way!!!

Just a note from Kate's mom. We took Kate down to the MTC last Wednesday, Oct. 12th, and she is off and on her way. She was so excited just to get going. I'm sure we won't hear from her for a week or so, but when she e-mails us, I will post her letters on this blog. If you want to receive e-mail notification that a new post is up, just subscribe to her blog on the right-hand side of the computer screen with your e-mail address. If you need help, call me and I will help. Thanks for the support you have all given Kate! She has such awesome friends and family who have helped her come to the road she is on right now, and we are really excited to hear her missionary experiences.

Facing the Giants

So institute was pretty much amazing last night! I have been blessed with three sets of teachers that all have been mission presidents and so they seem to put a mission spin on everything they teach. I love them all so much. Last night the Hales taught (love them) and they showed this clip and related it to Christ and how he never leaves us and he can see the big picture and when we can go farther and push harder than we think we can. We need to do the best for the Lord. Afterwards, another girl that is going into the MTC the same day as me and I stayed and chatted with our teachers. They gave us so much good information! I seriously am so pumped to go now! Only two short weeks!

Farewell

My farewell was this past weekend and I think it went great! At least that is what I have heard. It had to be so early because this weekend is General Conference, then we have Fast Sunday, then I leave!

I was asked to speak on tithes and offerings. At first I thought it would be a hard topic to talk about, but as I researched it more, I found that it was such an awesome topic! I spoke first, then the choir sang a beautiful rendition of I Know That My Redeemer Lives, then a high counselor spoke. Overall I think it was a really great sacrament that went by really fast! I guess that is what happens when you have so much adrenaline coursing through your veins. ;) I was nervous on Saturday when I was preparing for Sunday, but then on Sunday I had a dance party while getting ready, then goofed off with David and Annie, and by the time church started, I was totally calm. It was very interesting.

Afterwards, people came over to my house and ate some yummy food (homemade cafe rio, thanks Mom!) and just hung out with awesome company.

I am so grateful for all those who came to support me and have supported me throughout the years. I am seriously a blessed girl! I wish I could express my love to all of you, but I don't think words could express it. Maybe I'll paint you a picture. HA! Kidding. ;)

PTL

I was reading a talk the other day by President Monson (I think) and he said there are three steps to being a good missionary. I think I want to make something with it on it for my mission so I can take it with me! I love it so much. He said:

1) Prepare with Purpose
2) Teach with Testimony
3) Labor with Love 

I am so in love with this saying and I think I will remember it always.

I looked up weather in my mission today. Check it out:

Oh the joys of a summer in Texas!

Fear is a self-centered emotion.

Yesterday I went up to Girls Camp with my dad (bishopric) so I could help my neighbor drive her car home late that night. She doesn't like to drive in the dark.

It is amazing to me how I can go up for just a few hours, but still get so much out of it. I didn't expect to get anything out of it because hey, I was only going up to drive a car home. But the speaker they had that night was talking to me I swear.

She is an LDS life coach and she talked about loving people, and when you have fear you are only thinking about yourself and you can't love and have fear at the same time. Great message! I can apply this directly to my mission. I feel like if I can remember to just love the people and love what I am doing, fear won't have a chance to creep in. And if fear DOES creep in, I can remember that I am being self-centered and the cure for that is using my loving super-power.



How cool is that!?!

And a complete side-note, I counted the days until I leave....SEVENTY-FIVE!!!!

Splits

I went on splits yesterday for the first time! I went with a sister from Australia/New Zealand. Needless to say, I was quite intrigued with her accent. I just can't get enough.

We taught a nine-year-old girl about Queen Ester and the importance of fasting and faith. I love that story.

It is interesting because when I think about teaching people, I usually imagine adults. I felt totally in my element teaching this cute little girl. (Thank you primary children!) It has made me so much more excited about my mission, mostly because now it isn't as foreign. Of course I was in my hometown, not the border of Mexico. Slight difference? I would venture to say si (That means "yes" in Spanish. Yup, I'm like a pro now).

And on another side note, I made an appointment today to have a special life-changing experience in a beautiful white temple next Tuesday!!!

Flashcards

Last night we went to buy Spanish flashcards so I can really start practicing.

Did we get the box with 1000 cards? Does my dad want me to learn all those words/phrases/verbs before I leave? Am I overwhelmed?

The answer to the above questions is "yes," in case you were wondering.

P.S. We may or may not but most absolutely did get locked out of our car in front of Barnes and Noble and had to have the amazing Brittany Bowman come save us. Yup, that stuff still happens.

Busy Day

My dad announced to the ward today where I am going on my mission. He cried. He loves me. :)

There is a guy in my ward that served in McAllen a few years ago, and he shared some interesting info me me.

1) The humidity there is about 110%. What does that mean? Will I be breathing water? I don't do well with heat so this is going to be AWESOME!

2) He once stopped and talked to a guy still wet from crossing the Rio Grande into Texas. Yup, that actually happened.

3) If I get to a house with a lot of men and food on the ground, it is probably a stash house and I can't go inside.

4) About every other house speaks spanish.

5) People will mix their spanish and english together so it is going to be harder for me to pick up the language than if I was completely immersed in it.

That being said, I am still super excited!

After church, I took a suggestion from a very good friend to read my scriptures out loud to practice how to pronounce words. I am not half bad! I started off pretty bad though. Already sound like I have a Tex-Mex accent (Sweet). I got better after awhile. Then my dad tried to teach me some words/phrases in spanish. What to I remember? Yo tengo que ir al bano. For those of you that don't know spanish, it mean, "I have to go to the bathroom."

Useful phrase, I know.

After hours of Spanish practice, I went to mission prep where I was chosen to give the first discussion. All by myself. I rocked it. Just sayin'. :)

Is that really spanish?

Today I got my spanish scriptures. I opened them up and had to ask my mom if they were, indeed, spanish. Yup, that is right. I don't even know what spanish looks like. I'm in trouble!

The Big Unveiling

I told all my friends yesterday where I was going on my mission.

I told them I would tell them at 9:00 p.m., so right at nine, the people that were at my house wanted me to tell them, so I started reading the letter. Every time I started the letter, more people would show up so I would have to start over. It was killer for everyone else, but I was loving it because I already knew. (Obviously)

Eventually I got to read the letter and everyone was excited for me. Duh. Who wouldn't be excited for someone that is going to serve!

(Shelby Willis and I at my house after I told the friends) 

All my spanish speaking friends then proceeded to speak to me in spanish, as if getting a spanish speaking call would mean I magically understand what they were saying. I know I will understand eventually, but I just stared at them with a blank expression, thinking to myself, "With time, I might be able to understand that..."

After chatting with everyone about the mission news, we went to Harry Potter 7, Part 2. I don't know if I was more excited about telling my friends my call, or going to Harry Potter 7. My priorities might not be in the right place right now, so what?

Irony

So the title of this blog post is because I was complaining on Tuesday about how I couldn't be patient and wait another week or two to get my call, but guess what? I got my call yesterday!

WHA?!?!?!

I know! I was shocked too! I seriously didn't think I would get it that fast! But when I look at the whole process I went through, it has been nothing but fast! I mean, I started my papers three and a half weeks ago, then submitted them last Sunday, then got my call a week and a half later. It literally blows my mind.

So yesterday at work, I thought to myself, "wouldn't that be so funny if I got my call today?" Totally didn't actually expect to get it. I went home and grabbed the mail and lo and behold, there was that big white envelope! CRAZY! I got right back in my car and drove up to the cemetery by the temple (not as weird as it sounds. I wasn't actually in the cemetery, I was on a bench on the sidewalk overlooking Bountiful). Keep in mind that I am shaking this whole time and kind of driving super fast.

I got out of my car and crossed the street, sat down, and ripped open the envelope. Thank goodness I wasn't shaking as bad at this point or else I wouldn't have been able to open it that fast!

I pulled out the letter and honestly just search for the place where I was going. THE TEXAS, McALLEN MISSION! When I saw it I was kind of shocked because I had not expected that whatsoever! Then I pulled open the map to see exactly where it was (I never thought I would have to do the whole "pull out the map" thing, but honestly, I had no idea where is was). I found the map and saw that the McAllen mission is the southern tip of Texas, with the Mexican border on one side, the Gulf of Mexico on the other.

After seeing where it was, I got a little nervous. My little brother watches a show called "Border Wars," that shows people trying to get into the US and the Border Patrol stopping them. Yup, that is my mission. Hence the nervousness. :)

After I figured that all out, I looked at the letter again and found out that I would be leaving October 12th, and I would be speaking SPANISH! YAY!!!!! I am so excited to learn Spanish! It is going to be so helpful! I seriously can't wait!

After I took some time to process everything, I drove back down to my house to tell my family that I had my call, because they, like me, did not expect it at all.

I walked into my house and I didn't say a word; I just held up my awesomely huge white envelope. My brother and dad were in the kitchen and they were both as surprised as I was. My mom wasn't back from the Church Office Building (she does tours there) yet, so I made them both wait until she was home before I told them.

After many attempts to get me to tell them, my mother finally got home and I told them I was going to McAllen, Texas, Spanish speaking. My dad served his mission in Mexico, so he is fluent in Spanish, which led to his utter excitement because he will now have a buddy in the fam that can speak en espanol.

The rest of the night consisted of me telling family members the good news, then processing and doing a little research with my family and a few choice individuals.

The more I think about it, the more excited I get. I really just can't wait to get out there and learn the language and teach!

The Waiting Game

I dislike this game. My papers have been in for a mere nine days, and I am already anxiously awaiting that big white envelope that decides my future.

It is amazing how I have had to learn the lesson of patience quite a lot lately. I think I have it down, then another thing happens in my life, and it is like I never learned how to be patient in the first place. 

Waiting for my call has definitely taught me to trust in the Lord though. Giving an adolescent about three weeks to ponder where they are going for the next year and a half is slightly cruel, but really, it just reaffirms to me that the Lord knows us all individually and he knows exactly what we need. I know that wherever I get called is exactly where I'm suppose to be. 

Map

I enjoy maps. Plain and simple. They are so neat! I can just sit back and look at a map for ages! The world is so big, and I am so grateful that I get to see a new part of it in a few months.

That being said, I have a huge map hung up in my kitchen right now that is just waiting patiently (someone has to) for people to put their guesses of where the soon-to-be Sister G will be spending the next year and a half of her life.

Feel free to either show up to my house to take a guess, or let me know via some form of communication and I will put up your guess.

If I have enough guesses, someone is bound to be right....right?

Passed with Flying Colors!

I just finished my interview with the stake president and now my papers are submitted! Because I have the best timing in the world and decided to submit my papers in July (the General Authorities' vacation month), my call is going to take about 3 1/2 weeks, so I am guessing July 27th!

Let the waiting begin!

Out of My Hands

I am officially done with all my papers. I have submitted them to the bishop and after he goes through them, he sends them to the stake president, then he said the stake president would call me to set up an interview.

For those of you who know me well know that waiting for the stake president to call to to set up the interview wouldn't fly with me. At the time the bishop told me that, I had already set up my interview with the stake president two days prior.

Yup, I'm anal retentive.

I'm a Pro

Let me start by saying that shots are not a big deal.

Nonetheless, I would like all of you to know how brave I am. The lady giving me the shots was like 97 and she sneezed right before she stuck what looked like a needle as tall as me, into my arm (pretty sure it like like an inch long).

Even a cute old lady couldn't cure the look of pure terror on my face as she giggled and said, "Oh, good thing I didn't have the needle in your arm then..."

Kill me now.

Shots and Paperwork

I don't like either of those words.

If there was one thing that would keep me from going on a mission, it would be getting shots. I haven't gotten shots since I was like five. Does that make me a baby? Perhaps. Am I okay with being a baby? Absolutely!

Another side-note, papers don't take that long. I filled out all the paperwork I was suppose to in like an hour. I think the reason it takes so long is because of all the medical stuff. I hate medical stuff. It makes me grateful I'm a healthy little girl.

My Decision

A lot of people have been kind of surprised by my decision to go on a mission. Not surprised that I am going, more surprised that I decided so suddenly. I think that if everyone knew the inner-thoughts of my brain, they would know that is wasn't a sudden decision at all.

On July 3rd, 2010, I told some of my friends (shout out to 72 and 82) that I wanted to serve a mission. Ever since that day, it has kind of been at the back of my mind, but I had my life to live, so it was never really in the forefront. After much thought and prayer, I knew that I had to let a few other things play out in my life before I could go.

Now that I have let those things play out, I know that the right thing for me right now is to serve a mission!

Let me tell you: I. Am. Pumped! Seriously! Best decision ever! This whole thing has taught me so much about putting my life in the hands of the Lord, and being a tool for Him to use. What a great lesson to learn now!