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| Orem Utah Mission Musical Fireside with Vocal Point and Shari Dew. |
Hola,
Spiritual experiences:
Well we had TWO baptisms this week!!! That was so, so, so, exciting!!! One really tender moment was watching Rylee be baptized as we were standing on the side of the font with her mom and Sister Stillman, with tears in her eyes, smile, then look at me, and then hug me and says, " Thank You, Thank You so much." It was so cool to see how these two baptisms worked out. Hermana Cazares and I have learned that when you have done everything you can do, the Lord will provide and make up the difference, and it's true. We set a companionship goal of two baptisms for this last transfer. We worked so hard, and halfway through the transfer, we were blessed with TWO little miracles, Jai and Rylee. The Lord always provides if we will just press forward with faith, it might not be in the time frame we wish, but the Lord will provide!!
Baptisms:
Jai: She was baptized last week, and her baptism was so beautiful. She asked us earlier in the week if we could speak at her baptism, and she asked me to speak about baptism. It was great. She was so happy and so so adorable. She ran up to us after wards and gave us huge hugs. I love her so much!
Rylee: she was baptized last week as well. She received so much support from her family, it was great. It was a very intimate and small baptism, but so powerful. The spirit was felt very strongly, and it was so cool to see and realize that a family was slowly coming all together through the ordinances (like baptism) of Christ's church. I love Rylee and being a member of Christ's true church.
Verónica: she came to church this week! Woooooo, two weeks in a row! We have a cita with her tomorrow. We are super excited! :)
So, I sprained my ankle playing football on Thanksgiving... :) I was playing QB, and I threw a pass, but another person on the other team caught it and obviously that was an interception, so the first thought in my head is my pride and I think, "oh no, this interception is totally my fault, I have to run and rip his flag before he gets a touchdown." So, here I am, sprinting down the field and I am almost get to him (the Elder that rudely intercepted my pass), and then all of a sudden, there's a snap and a giant crunching sound, and I think, "uh oh" and I fall to the ground. Remember when I sprained my ankle at Trek? It was the exact same thing, but a lot less cool, haha!! So in the words of Nacho Libre, I, "took it easy" for the rest of the game and sat out because I knew that it was gonna be pretty bad, haha!! My ankle swelled up to the size of a tennis ball, and I got carried off the field by two Sisters, talk about embarrassing, haha! President Killpack got some funny pictures of my crash and burn, so once I get them I'll send them to you. The AP's bought me a 10 pound bag of ice for my foot, haha! We went to our first dinner appointment after that and these members had crutches and they let me borrow them. Later that night I got a blessing from Elder Ruiz and Elder Juarez, my zone leaders. I can testify once again of the power of the Priesthood and exercising faith, because I had immediate relief and was able to walk on it perfectly, just two days after the incident. And now mom, I am all good, so don't worry! :) The bruising was pretty gnarly, but it all makes for a great story, and I'll never forget my last Thanksgiving in the mission. :)
So this week has been filled with many exciting events.
Thanksgiving was so wonderful, even despite my ankle sprain! Our football game was at 10:30 and it was flag football, and we were zone against zone, it was really fun. We played for about two hours, President Killpack even played too! We had our first Thanksgiving dinner appointment right after the TURKEY bowl around 1:30, at one of the members in the American Fork ward (I've been in a trio all week, so we've been covering both areas). After that appointment we went and visited several different people sharing a spiritual message and doing acts of service. At 5:00 we went to the Stillman's for another Thanksgiving dinner. We originally had four dinner appointments, but two of them cancelled, which was a blessing, can you imagine eating four dinners in one day, no bueno! Thanksgiving at the Stillman's was so much fun, they feel like family to me. It was cool, because it felt like our family get togethers we have every Thanksgiving, but man oh man, there was so much good food. I couldn't help but think of Tubba' s rolls or Dad's turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and home made gravy. I bet the Elders you had join you on Thanksgiving were in heaven.
I went on splits with Hermana Josie (Kirstin my trainer from Puerto Rico) on Sunday. So fun, it felt just like old times, and now she's engaged, how times flies! Congrats Kirstin and Blake! You two are a beautiful couple, and can't wait to attend your wedding in March.
On Saturday night, we witnessed a really bad car accident, and I called 911 for the first time in my life. They were all teenagers and each one walked themselves to the ambulance. No one was hurt. It was such a miracle and blessing. I was reminded of the "Light the World" initiative and how in the very first scene of the video, it is an EMT person at some sort of accident helping someone, and I, in that moment, was very grateful for all those who are police officers, firefighters, EMT people, and first responders. It was scary because we had just pulled up to the house we were going to contact and then we heard and saw everything happen, and lives changed in seconds.
We also were protected this week from two giant deer that ran in front of us and somehow just ran on both sides of our car and never hit us. It was such a miracle. Heavenly Father protects His missionaries!
I cant believe that my cousin Avalon is on her way home from her mission, and I will be returning home from my mission in just three months, WOW, seems like just yesterday we were leaving! I am so proud of Avalon and her service, as well as all my other cousins (Dustin and Bergen) who are serving and having wonderful experiences on their missions. It will be great for all of us to be reunited after our missions and share our experiences with each other. I love our family, give Avalon a big hug for me.
MOM, I love you!! I loved being able to reminisce about our Thanksgiving traditions at the river watching the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade in the morning while Dad cooks, or just spending time with the family. It seems like you both hosted a great Thanksgiving, I loved the pictures!! Also, I got so excited when I saw all those packages of supplies, toys and candy being sent to the children of Puerto Rico! That makes my heart happy!! Thank you Mom, Sister Bradford, and Sister Bianucci for these wonderful acts of service!!
Thanks for attaching pictures of Sister Smart's Instagram of the current conditions in Puerto Rico. The devastation is exactly how I remembered it, but I am so grateful that help is on the way. I am especially grateful for our family Christmas Project that we are doing for all my investigators and new converts in Puerto Rico. Foregoing giving any presents to ourselves and sending needed supplies to these families in Puerto Rico who need it so much more than us, is the best gift we will have this Christmas, for this is the true meaning of CHRISTmas.
On Saturday night, we were contacting some houses and we got a referral to go visit this family, so we knock on the door and a man with a very warm, happy personality opens the doors and says, "Hey sisters, come on inside, it's cold out!" Shocked, and a little cautious, we said; "okay" and we go inside his house. He explains how timely our visit was, because he was helping his son write a talk on missionary work. After talking to this man we find out his name was David Parra, and he works for the Church Public Affairs Department, and he's the man that made the church program, "Just Serve", I know, crazy, right? He is one of the most humble, and amazing members I have EVER met. He says he wants to help Puerto Rico as much as he can, that made me happy.
DAD, I love you!! Thank you for your spiritual thought. I think you and Hermana Josie both were in tune with the Spirit, because she sent me a snippet of a talk that talked about the same things you shared with me. I was pondering your thought; "Isn't it funny how nice we are to other people, but how mean we are to ourselves?" It's something that I am trying to work on, and little by little I see how much happier I am when I just let go of fear and doubts, and just be myself.
I just got a call from President Killpack and I am going to the airport tomorrow morning with Sister Allen, who works in the mission office to go pick up my companion! She's currently on her way from Chile, and I'm so excited!!! Her name is Sister Laurie, and President said she doesn't know a lot of English. So, I'm excited to better my Spanish and meet her and be with her this transfer!
So far this transfer has been great. I've been in a trio with Hermana Cazares and Hermana Zayas for the last week, and it's been such a blast. We've had our first District Meeting for our Zone and our Zone Leadership Meeting with all the district leaders, the zone leaders, and me, the STL. Next week we'll have MLC and CDM, so, next week I'll be chalk full of meetings, but I love the zone already, and I love my district. It's a Spanish district, in an English zone. So, YEAH!!!
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| Our Cute Little Trio this week! So we had to pack our car with ALL of hermana Cazares's stuff, my stuff for a week, and food we bought that day, I was so squished, I felt like that one time when we drove up to college with all my stuff and me in the middle of it hahaha. Or like every car ride to the river. Haha. |
Love you all,
-Hermana Kali Rae Green
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| Love my Companion Hermana Cazares! |
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| Orem Spanish Zone Conference! |
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