Week 61

My wonderful family and friends, how grateful I am for each and every one of you. Thanks for being in my life!

One spiritual experience, and probably the highlight of my week was dinner last night.  So, last Monday, Hermana Cazares and I were at Wal-Mart grocery shopping, and we are always being waved at or hearing, "Hi Sisters."  While looking through one of the aisles, we met a really nice woman named Karen Wilbert.  We got into talking and she asked us if we covered her Stake and we said, yes! She's in an English speaking ward.  She happily asked us if we wanted to have dinner at her house the following Sunday and we happily replied, yes!  Well Sunday comes and we go over and we have dinner at their house with Brother and Sister Wilbert and their 18 year old daughter Meredith, and their nephew Alec, a return missionary of about 6 months.  They cooked a DELICIOUS meal of salad, chili, home-made biscuits with honey butter and home made apple pie, it was amazing!  I was so full, haha.  But they are just such an incredible family, and we had a really meaningful, gospel discussion just about life, our families, our missions and why we wanted to go, what it was like in Puerto Rico with the Hurricane's, etc.  We all shares stories and had MANY laughs.  In the midst of all this laughter and pure happiness, I just knew that this family was another reason why I was (reassigned) called to serve in Orem.  I felt like I had known this family for years.  They felt like family already, and we all agreed that evryone felt the same way.  We teared up at one point just thinking about it and I was just so grateful for Heavenly Father and His plan for me, and for the many details he brings to my life.  I'm not sure if any of this makes sense, but it was a very special feeling and Spiritual experience.  When we come back and visit my mission here, you'll HAVE to meet them. They're wonderful.  Mom, you should be expecting a text or email from Sister Wilbert with pictures from last night. :)

Dinner at the Wilbert's.

Investigators- the work is moving along here in good ol' pleasant grove!
Jesus: He came to church again yesterday! He had to leave after Sunday school, but he seemed to enjoy it.  He still has some doubts about the restoration, so we are really focusing on how to meet his needs.
Virgina: She came to church yesterday too!  We had a really cool lesson with her on Saturday reading Alma 32 about faith and being humble, and the mustard seed.  She really applied it to her own life and she has told us she knows the church is true.
Kaiya: I forgot to mention last week, we are teaching this family that is in one of the English Wards, the Hood Family.  There are four daughters, only 2 are old enough to be baptized, so we are focusing on them, Kaiya and Morgan.  They have been through a lot of trials in the last year, and we have this huge love for them.  Their Mom, Misty, reminds me a lot of Amy, and that makes me happy.  Kaiya is 11 and Morgan is 10.  Over the last 4 weeks we have seen Kaiya grow so much, and we invited her to be baptized.  With tears in her eyes, she told us how she knows that our message is true, and that she really would like to be baptized.  It was a happy day for that family and she's going to be baptized on November 11th. :)
Leslie: we haven't been able to meet with her for a couple weeks now. Were hoping to be able to this week!

My current companion, Hermana Cazares is just the best.  She was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, moved to the states when she was 11, and lives in Phoenix, Arizona.  Her and I are twins.  We work super hard and we are just constantly laughing.  She is very special to me.  She has 8 weeks in the mission, so I am finishing up her last transfer in her training as her trainer.  The other day, she shared with me how her first transfer was SUPER hard for her and how she had thought about going home. She then said how all of that changed when I came, and that if it weren't for me, she probably would've gone home already.  Hearing that was very humbling and really touched me.  I love her. She's a tough cookie.

Hermana Green & Cazares

Reading your experiences of the Meet and Greet with the Wildes (Senior Couple from Puerto Rico), the San Juan Puerto Rico Return Missionaries and Parents this last week up here in Utah made me so happy.  I teared up reading the story of the pancakes and spam, (The sisters had completely ran out of food at the Mission Home for dinner, and although the Mission Office was running out as well, they had pancakes and spam prepared for dinner.  So, President Smart asked if the Wilde's could share their meal with the Sisters. So Sister Wilde ask the Elders how many pancakes they had, and the answer was 102. There was 100 Elders and 55 Sisters + 4 with the Wilde's and Smart's.  So the Elders counted out 57 pancakes and pieces of Spam and gave it to the Sisters. Leaving 45 pancakes for the Elders and Wilde's. When they went to serve the food, everyone got pancakes and spam and there were leftovers.  The same thing happened with the Sisters, everyone ate and there were leftovers.  We all had chills as they told of this modern day miracle like how the Savior feed the five thousand with 4 loafs and 2 fishes).  I had NO idea about the severity of that situation, or how the outcome actually was such a miracle.  I remember, one morning, we just were in the kitchen and someone said, "The elders and Sister Wilde made us pancakes and spam."  I thought, "how nice of them" and ate one.  I had NO idea we were running out of food and President asked for food.  I cried tears of joy and gratitude seeing that modern day miracle

Mom, you look SO HAPPY in all the pictures from that night. You look so beautiful and happy.  I haven't seen a smile that big in a long time! That makes my heart happy.  I bet it was special.  That's so cool that you're meeting all these parents of all my mission friends and Elder and Sister Wilde. They are two very special people in my life.  They have done SO much for our mission and were just super human in their efforts and successes during Hurricane Maria.  I bet Elder Bloxam' s testimony that night was incredibly powerful.  We were praying every single moment for him and Elder Mancilla while they were stranded on Dominica. I can't wait to reunite with everyone one day.

Meet & Greet with the San Juan Puerto Rico Senior Missionaries, Return Evacuated Missionaries and Parents of those Missionaries still out serving and re-assigned

So everything here is really great. I wake up and look forward to another day of hard work, adventures, and experiences.  We are working with the Spanish Ward, trying to focus on part member families and less active families.  I love the members of my Spanish Ward.  I love the different cultures of the people and how they all have such amazing stories of how they got here and their conversion stories.  One of my favorite people I've met this week is a recent convert named Sylvania.  She is from Brazil and she is just the sweetest thing on earth.  We are also super excited because one of my other favorite members I've gotten to know is Claudia.  We are going to go over 3 times a week and read the Book of Mormon with her and her family because they want to start reading it.  I just love it here.

At dinner last night, Alec said something that really resonated with me.  He talked about his trials and the different experiences he's had in his life, and he said, "I feel really lucky, because I knew that whatever happened, whatever decision I made, my parents loved me unconditionally."  It took me back to many different trials and times in my life, and I can say with all confidence that I have been so blessed with that same blessing of my parents in my life.  I also was talking with Claudia and her daughter, about seminary, and how my Mom never made me miss a day of seminary unless I was dying (which was never, so I went).  I reflected on how going to seminary was the best way to start my day, and how there was a difference in my day, because of seminary.  So Mom, I'm not actually sure if I've thanked you for all those mornings all throughout high school you woke me up, faithfully, every morning, because you knew the importance of it.  Thank you for your example, and your diligence.  I love you.

We got to sacrament meeting late yesterday, so we didn't take the sacrament in our Spanish Ward, so we took it in an English Ward.  I haven't been in an English Sacrament Meeting during my mission so that was very weird.  Singing the Hymns in English and hearing the Sacrament Prayers in English was a different experience, but I am grateful I was able to take it.

We had a district activity today! We ate sushi, played uno, and had a good time. We have a super small district, just 6 people, but it's great, I love them all.

Elder Ruiz, Hermana Green, Hermana Cazares, Elder Quezada, Hermana McGuire and Hermana Zayas. 

I'm super excited for the rest of this transfer!  Next Monday we have a zone activity, then the next day we get to have dinner and go to the temple as a Mission on Halloween,  I've got an exchange, baptism coming up in the first couple weeks of November, MLC, and to top it off the Mission Musical Fireside with Sheri Dew and Vocal Point!  Life is good.

Speaking of life, I have 14 months on my mission tomorrow, man does time FLY.  I love my mission, and I can't picture my life without it.  It has been quite the adventure, and I wouldn't take back any part of it.  The trials have made me stronger.  I have come closer to my Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ.  I have grown in my knowledge of the gospel, and I have all around changed for the better.  Life is great!  Weird to think that Avalon will be home so soon, and then just around the corner, Alisa and I.  Also, a quick shout out to all of my cousins who have served and are currently serving (aka Neno's Army).  How grateful I am for our family bond we have now and I love that through our missions we've gotten closer and been able to support one another.

To end, I really enjoyed Dad's spiritual thought of Helaman 5:12:  “And now, my sons & daughters, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat down upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of endless misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.” 

That perfectly explains the growth I have felt in this last transfer.  When we take the time to build our foundation on Christ, we will be able to overcome and withstand ANY storm.  Whether they are personal storms, or literal Hurricanes, we will find the safety we need in Him.  I testify of the truthfulness of that, and promise that the peace we need in "a sin-sick world" will be found.

All my love,

-Hermana Kali Rae Green

Week 60

Family dearest, I love you.

Spiritual experiences.. well one was super cool! So I'm the designated driver for our companionship and Hermana Cazares helps lead me everywhere.  Everything looks the same here and it throws me off so much, haha.  So, Hermana Macias went home last Wednesday and we had made an appointment with a woman named Virgina in this one part of town.  I had misplaced the paper with her apartment number on it and there are TONS of apartments that all look the same.  Because we were lost, we were late to our cita (appointment).  So, we decided to say a prayer and we asked for guidance to be lead to her apartment, and after some turns, and driving on some streets, and a couple more turns, we were lead to this door and just walked up to it and hoped for the best.  AND, IT WAS HERS.  The Spirit TOTALLY lead us to this apartment. It was the coolest thing and we had such a bomb lesson with her! It was great. 

My Companion Hermana Cazares

Hermana Green, Macias (She went home this week) & Cazares

Halloween treat from home!

Investigators! Hermana Cazares and I are working SUPER hard everyday and have set goals and are making plans to accomplish them, by making weekly, monthly, and transfer goals. We feel that these goals are super inspired because we have seen SO many miracles and so much success.

Leslie: Leslie is so great.  She is 13 and half of her family are members, and the other half isn't.  Her parents are divorced and she lives with her mom and 2 brothers, she speaks English and is so funny.  She came to General Conference with us and she has a baptismal date for the 28th of October!  We are trying to help her progress by talking to her Mom about baptism and asking for permission for Leslie to be baptized.  We didn't get to teach her last week but this week we are hoping for the best.
Jesus Quinteros: Jesus is a miracle! He was a reference from our District leader and his companion.  We went and taught him the Restoration and it was such a powerful lesson.  He is looking for more in life.  He also came to church yesterday!  It was Stake Conference and he came!  We have a lesson with him on Saturday.  He's from Mexico.
Virigina: she is the sister of a member in our ward!  We taught her the Restoration last week and it was one of the most powerful Restoration lessons we have EVER taught.  Her sister was there in the lesson and testified so well, it was a golden lesson.  Virginia knows every thing's true, she just has a boyfriend who has always stopped her from being baptized.  She's from Venezuela!
Jose Chavez: we happened to have a cita fall through, so our backup plan was to go knock on the neighbors house.  We knocked, and Jose answered.  We explained who we were and started bearing testimony of the Restoration.  He then asked us, "do you believe there is a life after death?" we replied, "we KNOW there is a life after death".  We started explaining the Plan of Salvation and he told us how he was searching for these answers and he's super excited to learn more!  It was so cool. He's also from Mexico!
Pedro y Jose: we saw these two guys while we were crossing the street and neglected to go by them the first time, but we went by after visiting the Bishop.  They are 21 and 25 and are both from Mexico.  We started talking about our message, and Pedro had a TON of interest.  We ended up talking to them and answering their questions for an HOUR - straight up testifying for an HOUR!  It was so surreal and one of the coolest things.  I felt like I was fulfilling my calling as a Missionary, I felt happy!!
Patsy: Patsy is from Ecuador and is the wife of a member in the English Ward.  Their family is so great.  Patsy has been taught by many missionaries for the last 10 years.  She has a good desire to learn and wants to accept Christ as the Savior and Son of God.  We are helping her read the Book of Mormon!

Our area is so cute, it's in Pleasant Grove and it's so beautiful.  The Mount Timpanogas Temple is right down the road from our apartment.  There are a lot of LDS Churches here, haha, and a lot of people from so many different countries all around the world.  We have members from Chile, Mexico, Guatemala, AND ONE FAMILY FROM PUERTO RICOOOOOOOOOO.  Also there's a Sister in my zone who's from Puerto Rico too!  Tender Mercies and Blessings!!!  The ward is incredible and I love the support they have for the missionaries.  We get fed dinner everyday, yummy food.  So far, food from Venezuela is my favorite thing I've tried.  I teach mainly in Spanish, and I love it.

Mayda emailed me from Puerto Rico.  She told me every one's okay, and I am so happy to hear this news!!

I heard that my Blog post regarding my last days in Puerto Rico was published - I am so humbled and grateful, and hope that it may uplift or help someone.  A lady in my ward came up to me and told me she read It!  Also Hermana Smart emailed me and said her and President read it and wept.  I love and miss them.

Tubba's birthday looked so fun!  I'm jealous she went and saw Hamilton... but it's okay.  One day, maybe I'll be in it, fingers crossed, haha!!!

So, wanna know something?  I am so incredibly happy, so happy!!!  I have seen the Atonement work in my life and help heal me and give me strength to carry on.  I couldn't have done it without the Savior, He truly is the light and life of the world.  I am so grateful for the opportunity to bear his name on my heart everyday and to seek ways to become more like him.  Time is flying to fast, I almost have 14 months in the mission, WHAT!!!!!

I have my first two intercambios (exchanges) this week as a Sister trainer here, I am so excited!
Life is good and I am happy.   Thank you for all your love and I love each and every one of you very much!!

All my love,
Hermana Kali Rae Green

Week 59

Hi there! I am here to finish my story. Sorry if I kept you on your toes all week, haha!

I want to start by saying, I know, more than ever that Heavenly Father knows what's truly best for me.

So, in continuation of my story or journey, the other sisters had left the island on Saturday and the nineteen of us remaining were there until Tuesday.  We had so many great experiences during this extra time we had, while waiting for our flight clearance to come, like Sacrament Meeting, bonding even more with each other, etc...  What was hard was just how we thought we were going to be leaving, we'd get ready, and then we'd get a call saying we weren't leaving.  That got rough after two false starts, and Hermana Holton and Nottingham and I could see that the positivity of the remaining Hermanas was going down.  So, Monday night, we decided to plan a Family Home Evening that would help us remember the miracles, and the positivity of this situation.  It turned out great and it was something I'll never forget.  It was cute, as well, because President and Hermana Smart just got to relax and put their minds on something else.  It was really good, and what we wanted to help them understand (including ourselves) was that this is all in God's plan.   I think, even despite everything that had happened, the Spirit had blessed and comforted me with understanding.  I knew that even despite all the pain and sadness I had been feeling, I understood that this was all part of His plan.  It was part of His plan to have a hurricane hit, to do damage, and to have us all learn from this experience.  It was part of His plan to reassign us even before we sent in our mission papers.  Of course, we had no idea this was ever going to take place, but you know what? It doesn't matter, I trust in my God with all my heart!!

I KNOW without any doubt that Puerto Rico is beginning a brighter future and this is just the beginning of many miracles to come.  I know that Heavenly Father doesn't give us anything we can't handle, and at times we are not going to see the full view, but we just have to trust that He knows more than us, and that he knows what he's doing.

We finally left on Tuesday, and another miracle was about to happened.  When we were going through to get on the charter jet, they had my name wrong, so they pulled me to the side, and long story short, I almost didn't get on the plane, but they were kind enough and understood the situation and they let me go on!  I was the last one on the plane before President and Hermana Smart got on.  When I got on the plane all the sisters clapped and yelled saying, "YOU MADE IT YAY" It was an exciting time.  Hermana Smart told me that it they didn't let me on the plane that she would've stayed with me, I LOVE her!  As we were taking off, that was very hard.  As we looked out the window, Puerto Rico was unrecognizable.  I remember landing 12 months ago, and seeing green everywhere, now it was brown.  I sat by Hermana Nottingham and Holton (I was in the MTC with both of them) and we all got very emotional, and then we were on our way to Florida.  We landed, and I said, "Gracia's" to one of the people that worked by the jet and they said, "uh, I don't speak Spanish", welcome back, Hermana Green! Haha.  That was weird, hearing English again like all the time, but we were immediately welcomed by a couple of other senior couples from other missions and they were yelling out room numbers for the hotel we were staying in that night.  When everyone got their info, President Smart requested that we sing, "Para Siempre Dios Este con Vos" (God be with you til we meet again).  That was a very emotional song, seeing that some of us were going to be separating that night and there wasn't going to be much time for goodbyes.  We couldn't sing majority of the song because the entire group of Elders and Sisters were all crying, and I had a perfect view of Hermana Smart and she was crying, and that made me keep crying.  We got on the buses, and went to the hotel.  We called our parents briefly later that night, and it was nice talking to them and letting them know we were OK.

We woke up the next morning, and I only saw a couple people because all of our flights were on different schedules.  I left the hotel at 8 AM and was lucky enough to have said good bye to some of my closest friends I've made on the mission like, Hermana Zimmerman, Elder Murillo, Elder Bradford, Hermana Nottingham, and Hermana Holton.  I luckily had Hermana Post and Hermana Rodriguez coming with me, and other Elders I knew as well.  There were about 20 of us that went from Florida, to Atlanta, Georgia.  One miracle that happened was while we were waiting in Atlanta, Hermana Rodriguez and I decided to go to the MAC makeup store because I wanted to buy some lipstick to make me feel better (haha) so, we did!  While in the store, a lady said, "sisters" and it was a member of the church!  We started talking to her and told her of our situation and told her where we were reassigned to go serve, and she says, "I live in Orem" and she wrote down her number and told me if I ever wanted dinner, that I could eat with their family.  It was super cool.  There was a handful of people who stopped and talked to us by the gate too.

We got to Utah, and as we were going down the escalator, we saw all of these cameras and news channels.  My first thought was "Wow I wonder who they're here for."  Then I realized, they're filming us, "Oh." I thought.  I probably just looked really confused because I had no idea who my Mission Presidents looked like, and I was carrying around a bag of Chick-Fil-A and probably just looked lost, Hahaha.  Luckily The Killpack’s found us and the three of us (Elder Juarez, Elder Garza, and I) got out of there.  Hermana Post came with us too, because her Mission Presidents were picking her up at the Killpack’s house, what a blessing to have been with her.

We were fed good food, and got a good night's sleep, and then our missionary life resumed that next day with zone conference.   President Killpack kept me as a Sister Training Leader, so we also had MLC (mission leadership conference, like zone conference but with only the leadership), and I gave my first 15-minute training for my zone that following Thursday at our combined district meeting for our zone.  So, I've been pretty busy. And that was the end of all the craziness and adventure that was Hurricane Maria.

I want all of you to know that I am okay, and I am adjusting good.  The mission has been so loving and kind.  The Killlpack’s are incredible and have done so much for us and have taken us in like their own.  I have seen miracle after miracle and have received a personal witness and testimony of this trial, and I knew that I was supposed to be here the second we got into Orem.  My dear loved ones, we are going to have trials that make your world seem like it's falling apart, but it's in those moments where we can use the testimony and faith we have in the Savior, Jesus Christ, to find peace as we trust in Him. We don't have to allow ourselves to suffer more than we need to, because He already did for us.  The Atoning sacrifice that the Savior did for us gives us the ability, mental, emotional, physical and spiritual strength that will help us keep going when life gets hard.  That healing and strengthening power of the Atonement is what has got me through this trial.  So, keep holding on.  Keep trusting in that glorious plan our Father in Heaven has for us.  I KNOW without a doubt that this is part of my plan, all of it, and it has been an interesting part of my plan, but I know that this is helping refine and mold me to become even better.  I know that in the end, it truly doesn't matter where I am asked to serve, because the one thing that matters is that I get to serve in this great work of the Lord that is constantly moving forward.  I will go and I will do, over mountain, plain, or sea. I will find my purpose here. I will continue to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. And I will triumph!

I am grateful for your love. I can't wait to personally thank each of you, but for now, Just thank you!

So, I'd like to start off this email wishing a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my lovely sister, Tina.  Tomorrow is her birthday, and she's the best.  I love you, sister!!  Thanks for being a role model in my life. Thanks Mimi and Penelope for that surprise Princess Party you gave my sister!  You’re the best!!

Spiritual experiences in Orem.  Well with some of my investigators I already feel as though they are part of the reason why I am supposed to be here.  The people, it's all about the people.  They feel like family already.  I have grown in appreciation and love for the Spanish language even more while I've been here in Orem.  It's kind of like my comfort blanket of normalness in this weird culture shock i’m currently in,  haha!  One miracle was last Thursday, we got to go to the PROVO CITY CENTER TEMPLE (that was a dream come true), and the person I was doing the work for was named Esther Green, now what are the odds, right!?!
I've just seen so many miracles. I've received trash bag after trash bag of clothes for me.  In one night, word had gotten out that I was coming to the mission in Orem with essentially no clothes, and people just kept delivering bags of clothes to our doorstep, for like five days straight!  Someone even flagged down our car and stopped us to ask me if I needed any clothes, and a lady paid for my purchase in Target when my card wouldn't work – I was so grateful for these tender mercies from the Lord.

Reunited with Hermana Josie at General Conference!

I was fortunate to be able to go to General Conference, and I was lucky enough to see Hermana Pearce (now Sarah) and Hermana Martinez (now Preslie) and Hermana Josie (now Kirstin).  Such a blessing.  Just so many blessings, I am very humbled by all the blessings and love I have felt.
Companions! So, I am currently in a trio with Hermana Macias and Hermana Cazares (they speak Spanish and English), but transfers are this week, and President Killpack is keeping me as an Sister Trainer Leader.  I am finishing the training of Hermana Cazares, and we are both staying in Pleasant Grove (Garden 11th Ward), whitewashing the area - fun stuff!  The new transfer starts Wednesday, and Hermana Macias is done with her Mission and going home. I am still teaching in Spanish, but also English.

I have a tablet, now.  Technology feels weird, after not having it for thirteen months, but I have to use Facebook now for teaching and everything is online, it's weird, but yay technology?  I'm really not used to it, haha.   I can look at my emails during the week, I just can't reply till Monday, which BY THE WAY I WANT TO REPLY TO ALL OF YOU EACH WEEK AND I AM SO SORRY IF I CAN'T, I AM JUST SO BUSY BUT KNOW I ENJOY AND APPRECIATE ALL OF YOUR LETTERS!

I got the first suitcase you sent of clothes and supplies, and I loved EVERYTHING.  MY FAMILY IS THE BEST, such homies!!  I especially loved all the notes from the Mile Square Park Ward members - THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!  The outfits are great, and everything fits, yeah!!!


General Conference was GREAAAAAT.  We took our 13-year-old investigator Leslie! It was so cool.  It was exactly what I needed.

Mom and Dad, thank you for your nice words, I am happy. I loved the Spiritual thoughts you sent.  Avalon actually recommended that same talk by Elder Bednar and I had been reading that talk when you sent your Spiritual thought! #twoworldsonefamily

Today we had a zone activity, we hiked Battle Creek Falls and had a game of kickball and ate Carne Asada. I'm in the Spanish zone in my mission so we are the only people that speak Spanish, it's great. I love everyone already!!  Oh, cool thing, well actually two.  We’re going to the temple on Halloween, and we have a fireside in November and SHERRI DEW AND VOCALPOINT ARE COMING?????  I am so stoked.

Zone Activity!

The View from our Hike to Battle Creek Falls.

Well that’s all I have time for!  I love you all and I’m grateful for the miracles and tender mercies the Lord has placed in my life.  I am so happy, and know if I keep putting my trust and faith in the Lord, I will continue to be blessed!

-Hermana Kali Rae Green

Horchata with Hermana Peter!! Heavenly!!!

Week 58

"The Future of Puerto Rico Is Bright" - Elder Neil L. Andersen, March 18th, 2017 

My Dear Family and Friends,

Given I have not been able to e-mail in two weeks, I know this e-mail is probably highly anticipated, so bear with me and the length of this email, haha!

 

I want to start off by expressing my heartfelt gratitude for all of you.  All of your prayers towards the lovely people of Puerto Rico, for my family and I and for our mission. I have felt the love of many through your emails, letters, and hand-written notes. There are not enough words, songs, letters that could describe the love I have for all of you. 

These last 3 weeks have been without a doubt some of the most spiritual and some of the most faith-trying weeks of my life.  A lot has happened so I'll just start from the beginning.  So, on Saturday the 16th of September I was on my first intercambio with Hermana Mann when we received a text from the Mission President, that we needed to go to the store and buy food, water, and any other supplies needed in preparation for Hurricane Maria. We had called Hermana Pearce and Hermana Brooks, they picked us up and we went and drove to Wal-Mart.  Everyone was already freaking out a bit, buying everything they could since we had just gone through Hurricane Irma a week and a half before.  We were able to buy everything and all was well.  That following Monday night, a member had been accompanying us to different appointments and she was updating us on what category the Hurricane was at, etc.. and we knew the trajectory and that it was coming towards us, but we really still kinda had no idea what was going to happen.  The next morning, we received a text saying that we needed to pack our evacuation carry on suitcase (basically, grab a change of clothes and leave everything else) and that we were going to the Mission Home.  Well, not something we were expecting, but we packed up and were on our way.  While I was packing, I wasn't thinking that this might be the last time I would be packing, but I did get this prompting many times, that came to my mind saying, "pack what you REALLY don't want to lose".  So, I followed it and packed my scriptures, missionary journals and memory cards of all my mission pictures, still not thinking anything severe was going to happen, but I followed the prompting anyways.

We got to the Mission Home and it was so great getting to be with all the Hermanas and seeing old companions and friends.  While there, we laughed, got to have a cool question and answer conversation with Hermana Smart and all the Sisters before President Smart arrived later that night.  We got to ask Hermana Smart how her and President met, how she decided to become a social worker (which actually completely confirmed that that's what I am going to do and study to become in college) and other spiritual things.  It was super cool. Hermana Smart is one of the most remarkable women I have EVER had the honor of meeting.  She has changed my life, and has truly helped shape me into the person I have wanted to become, and she has helped defined that path that I want to continue on. I love you, Hermana Smart!

President came to the Mission home a bit later and showed us on his iPad the trajectory of Hurricane Maria, and told us that Puerto Rico would be directly hit.  Surprisingly, I still didn't feel fear.  I think part of it might've been that we all thought that Heavenly Father was just going to shoo away Hurricane Maria magically just like he did with Hurricane Irma.  We had a great rest of the night, and we even had a cool devotional given to us by President Smart.  One thing he talked about was making the comparison to a lighthouse and the gospel, and how the main light of the light house is supposed to light the way for all to see, so they won't get lost or crash into rocks (Just like the gospel).  He then talked about the lower lights at the bottom of the light house, that are there to help show any other dangers.  He compared the lower lights to us, as Missionaries.  We are here as these lower lights to help pave the way for those looking towards that main light of the gospel.  He then talked about how when Elder Andersen came and visited Puerto Rico, that there were wonderful things in store for this island and that it would be, "The Miracle of The Caribbean".  We knew that this Hurricane would be a trial and that when it was over, it is our time to rise up, to do the Lord's work, and become those disciples of Christ these people need us to be.  President Smart ended with, "these trials are in preparation for the vision and miracles that are in store for this island, and we have a BIG part in this".  He also mentioned many times that he felt that starting the next day, the 20th of Sept, that it would be a day that miracles began to happen to help the work of the gospel go forth.  Now he was in NO way seeing the future, let me clarify, But we all felt the same.  We didn't know what was going to happen, but we knew something good was going to come of all of this.  We went to sleep on this spiritual high.

I woke up at 2:00 AM to the sounds of harsh, strong winds knocking against the house, it was so loud, I didn't really know what was going on at first, but from where I was on the floor, I could see a window covered by a screen that led out to the patio, and shadows of palm trees moving like crazy.  I turned around because a light from the neighbors house was casting into the room above my head.  As I looked out the window I saw all of these palm trees bending in half, but not breaking. The best way I could describe it is like this: grab the most delicate flower you could think of and put it up to a blow dryer on high.  Do that for about 8 hours.  That's what it looked like. I was just in unbelief!  I Was sitting there, watching all of this destruction happening, and I was just in complete awe. However, I was completely safe, might I add.  But no one slept all night because of how loud and strong it was.  We were all trying to sleep but it wasn't really an option.  Every hour that passed, it got stronger and stronger.  At around 5, our room was awake talking about what was happening.  I was sleeping next to Hermana Post and she just kept saying how cold she was.  A couple minutes later she said, "my feet are wet", i said, what?!  All of a sudden, we heard this huge RIPPING noise and a bunch of water starting seeping through the windows.  We all stood up and started putting towels down. I looked out the giant window and saw something weird in the backyard.  "What's that?", I said.  "That's our wooden window panel and part of our roof that flew off."  To my surprise, about half of this huge panel had flown off.  Oops, sorry Mom, we were all fine and the window and roof were strong, but our room just kept flooding.  At one point, later that morning, I was looking for my flashlight and I stepped in our room and it was up to my ankles full of water.

At around 7:00 everyone was moving in the house and we were all just watching the storm from the kitchen and living room. There are giant windows on the doors and I could not BELIEVE what the hurricane had done.  It was pitch black outside even though it was in the morning, and we really didn't know how much damage was done until later on that day when we went outside.  Before we went outside, President Smart read us an article written by the Washington post on the damage done in just 12 hours to the island.  While hearing it, my heart just sank.  Then we went outside (Hurricane had passed off the island by this point) and he showed us what happened just outside our house.  I was one of the first people outside, and I saw that the top layer of our roof had flown off, what was left was this tarp and some other debris, trees, light poles, and other sort of large debris was covering the entire area and the street.  Trees had fallen into houses, breaking them and electric cables destroyed.  In one moment, I realized that nothing was going to be the same.  Tears filled my eyes and we all hugged one another, in complete shock, but in gratitude, realizing how lucky we were to be alive and how grateful we were for the Lord's protection.

We had more devotionals later throughout the day.  Then on Thursday and Friday we were able to do service for the people in this neighborhood.  This is a SUPER rich area and no one ever can proselyte there because the guards at the entrance to the homes never let Missionaries enter, unless they are going to the Mission Home for a meeting.  However a miracle happened!  Through showing these people genuine love and concern, their hearts were softened and they were grateful for the help we gave.  All day we were in our yellow Mormon Helping Hands vests, lifting giant trees with our bare hands, moving them to the sides of streets, helping people have accessibility to drive through the streets by cleaning them up completely.  I really can't describe how bad the damage was, but everyone was taking pictures of us, and with us, in tears thanking us for helping them.  We got everyone to also help clean up this Catholic Church in the neighborhood that was completely destroyed.  We cleaned this church all day Friday and the Father of this church, also helped us.  At the end, after many hours of work, we decided to sing a hymn, "I am a child of God".  The entire time the Father of the Catholic Church was closing his eyes, really taking in the message.  After we were finished singing, he thanked us, and said, "wow. I could really feel the presence of God here, thank you".  He also said he would put all the, "lovely Mormon women" in their mass prayers, at their next service (someone told us that he actually did).  Never have I felt so much  love for these people and love for serving them until this point.  Seeing their reactions over those two days were some of my most treasured memories. 

Friday comes, we are thinking we are going back to our missionary home's soon, but were not sure when.  Over the course of those 4 days we had been so spiritually edified, and it honestly was as spiritual as girls camp and trek combined.  That night, I remember laughing and having so much fun with the other Sisters, when President Smart came in to the Mission Home, asking for all of us to come meet in the living room.  We said a prayer and after it, Hermana Smart was already bawling.  Something had happened!?!  President Smart started telling us how he had been talking with the leaders of the Church in Salt Lake, (including some Apostles) and he updated us on the severity of the damage too the island, and how our resources like food,water and fuel were quickly diminishing, and that we were quickly running out.  He then told us that the island was completely out of power, and running water and they weren't expecting to have it repaired for a year.  He then said, that because there's no power and water, there is no way that we could survive.  He then stopped, and said, holding back tears, "Our Church Leaders decided that we are going to have to evacuate the island, and all Missionaries will be getting reassigned to different Missions".  In just one moment, my world, completely broke into a million pieces. The sound of hysterical crying, and almost mourning like sounds filled the room.  He then continued, while crying, that this was decided by the First Presidency, and the Quorum of the 12, and then read off our reassignments.  He kept saying how this was not what he wanted either, that this was all inspired, for our safety, and that this was also an answer and a help to the prayers of our parents, and families.  He then told us we had to start packing because we were going to leave the next morning, early around 6:00.  I didn't sleep. I didn't sleep for a while to be quite honest. I felt very numb, then would start bawling, then felt numb again. I slept for about an hour.  I maintained great faith and trust in the Lord, and as hard as this was, I know the Lord has a plan and that all would be ok!

President Smart breaking the news of our reassignments

The next morning, we went to the airport, only having to come back hours later because there was not enough room for everyone at the airport. They sent all the sisters (including Hermana Pearce) who were told they were finishing their mission early, to the front of the line. They then moved the Latinas (native Latin missionaries) up to the front of the line as well, then the rest of the Sisters filled in behind them.  Because I was a sister training Leader, I was sent to the back of the line, so that way the other Sisters who were not in any leadership would go first, and we would stay behind.  And just like that, 36 out of the 55 Sisters were gone off the Island, no closure, nothing.  19 of us stayed behind.  It ended up being a big blessing having us stay behind, it helped me prepare a lot more spiritually and emotionally, but at times it also made it harder.  We were able to see many miracles, and even say goodbye to the people we did service for, and had an hour to contact in the neighborhood around the Mission Home.  We had one of the most spiritual sacrament meetings in the Mission Home, I had ever had in my life. 

For the sake of time and this long email, I will continue next week because I have to go. But again, thank you, everyone so much. I will forever cherish the memories, spiritual learning and miracles I witnessed serving the people I love so much in Puerto Rico.  

Hermana Kali Rae Green