Exito!

Querida Familia y Amigos

This week, the elders passed off an Argentinian family to us because the wife doesn't speak English very well and wanted to be taught in Spanish. They are such a great family! They have two children (4 and 9 years old) and had been thinking that they wanted to start bringing them to church. The husband, D., told us that he had been thinking about his father's death a year ago and was still upset about it when the elders knocked on their door. When he saw them he felt very good about them and he remembered his uncle who is a Latter-day Saint. He said that many people had knocked on his door, but he hadn't felt good about anyone until the elders. When we were in the lesson with him he told us about his uncle's family. He said that he saw his cousins serve missions and saw that they were good people. Many members of his family used bad language but he never heard bad words in his uncle's house and he saw that one of his cousins who had disabilities was thriving in school because she had such a supportive family. He said that he could see that although his uncle was a poor man, he was rich with his family. This family is so prepared to hear the gospel and we are grateful for the example of D.'s uncle

We've had quite a few investigators that have had the same questions in different forms: "Why should I be baptized?" Or in other words, "What if I mess up after I am baptized? Is it better that I am never baptized than that I get baptized and make mistakes afterward?" As a missionary I am listening and it is so clear to me, "Be baptized! Have faith!" But this has been a very difficult question for me to answer as a missionary. As I've searched for ways to answer this question, a process which continues, I have been lead to Preach My Gospel where there is a quote from Dallin H. Oaks that says that we baptize to open the doors of the Celestial Kingdom (D&C 76:50-51). With baptism by the proper authority we have a chance, but without baptism, we can guarantee that we will not be there. When that idea became clear to me, it changed the way I think about a lot of what I do as a missionary. I am so grateful to be baptized and for the blessings that come when we make covenants with God.

Funny story for the week: Hermana Fillmore and I went tracting in some townhouses that we had never been to before. We saw an elderly man in the parking lot so we went out to talk to him. It turns out that he didn't speak any English but we think he said he spoke Russian. Anyway he started talking to us in his language and we're pretty sure he said he wasn't Christian. My companion tried to give him a pass-along card for the Finding Faith in Christ DVD. He pointed to the picture of Jesus and said in English, "Pagan man!" Then in the middle of what he was saying he turns to my companion and slaps her (not hard). We were both surprised and startled. She looked over at me and then he turned to me and slapped me. What! Then he started laughing. The "conversation" ended shortly afterward. We still laugh about it every day.

Con Amor,

Hermana Kinghorn

No Soy Cambiada

Spanish Speaking Missionaries in Seattle, Washington


Querida Familia y Amigos,

Good news: Hermana Fillmore and I both survived transfers and will be staying here in Kent this transfer.

We had some good experiences this week when we were trying to focus on talking with everyone. On Monday we were at an apartment complex and we didn't know where to go. We saw a man walking outside so we decided to try to talk to him. He was not receptive but since we had already walked over there, we decided to knock on the doors of that building. We found a great new investigator there who had just moved here from Georgia and had been attending church there. He was looking for a church in Kent and came to the church for a lesson there and also went to church on Sunday. On Tuesday we decided to go tracting in some trailers down in the valley. When we arrived, we didn't know where to go, but we saw a man outside building a patio so we decided to talk to him. We were talking with him about prophets when he asked us, "Why don't you talk to me about baptism?" That was definitely something we could do so we were able to go up to his patio and have a lesson with him there about baptism.

E. has been doing so well. This last week we had a lesson with him about temples and the goal of going to the temple. We were able to use the Templos (Temple) magazine that the church publishes and talk about the goal of preparing ourselves to make temple covenants. The Spirit was present and E. was able to make a good connection with the member who was in the lesson with us. We gave him a white shirt and tie to wear to church.

We had a lesson last night with a lady named E. that we've only had one lesson with. She was very receptive to the restoration and told us to come back in the evening when her son (who is nine) would be home. We watched the Restoration DVD with them and right before Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith, E. turned to her son and said, "This is the part I told you about. Pay attention." Her son who had been watching the movie lying on the living room floor sat up and moved closer to the television. When it was done, he turned to us and said, "Can I have an English copy of the book the prophet translated?" He told us that he believed that he could receive an answer like Joseph Smith. The faith of children is so beautiful.

Monday night, Hermana Fillmore and I were present in what might be the best lesson I've experienced on my mission. We were with C. who has a baptismal date later this month but has been having a lot of doubts lately. She needed to make a lot of important decisions and she didn't know how to recognize answers to her prayers. We were teaching her about the scriptures so when we explained Doctrine and Covenants, we were able to focus on how the Doctrine and Covenants helps us learn about personal revelation. Hermana Fillmore and I both turned to D&C 9:8-9 to read with her. When C. was reading it, she stopped. And in that moment we knew that she had an answer to her prayers. We waited with her, and after a minute she was able to continue. The scripture has brought both Hermana Fillmore and I much consolation as we have gone forward in our lives and we loved seeing it change C.'s whole demeanor. I am so grateful for the prophet Joseph Smith.

Hermana Fillmore and I have been able to learn about following the Spirit as we have been in lessons and had the same promptings come to us at the same moment. Just the other day we were watching a movie about Joseph Smith and although we've both seen the movie dozens of times, we were both impressed with one specific scene for the first time. After the movie, Herman Fillmore spoke first and pointed the scene out to the family. After the lesson we were able to talk about how we both had the same impression. We love teaching together in unity!

Have a wonderful week!

Hermana Kinghorn

Hacia arriba y abajo

Querida Familia y Amigos

That was a good question you asked me yesterday about letters, Mom. I think one thing that I would love to hear more of in letters is experiences from your missions. And pictures certainly never hurt!

On Sunday we had only one investigator at church. That might seem good, but for us it really isn't very much. It was disappointing because many of our plans fell through at the last minute and everyone that we're working with who has a baptismal date did not come to church. However, with every disappointment comes blessings in disguise. We're able to better see weaknesses in testimony that we were not attuned to earlier and we were able to sort through the interest level of other investigators.

Lately I have been doing all of my studies in Spanish. I've found that it's easier to follow the Spirit and find scriptures that meet their needs in the lessons when I study in Spanish. Right now I am reading in Mosiah 26 and am working hard to complete El Libro de Mormón. It's nice to be able to tell investigators that I am reading the book in Spanish so you can do it too! Reading in Spanish (and as a missionary) has helped me to notice many things that I had never payed attention to all of the other times I read The Book of Mormon. The book of Mosiah talks a lot about authority and makes it so clear the importance of authority in the church of Jesus Christ. In Mosiah 21 there is an interesting little story from verses 31 to 35. Here it talks about how the people repented and regretted that they had not listened to the words of Abinadi. They decided that they wanted to make a covenant with God to serve him and keep his commandments. This covenant is very similar to what we know to be the baptismal covenant. In verse 33 it says that they all desired to be baptized. It is interested that even though what they did was similar to baptism, they recognized that it was not a baptism and they still longed to be baptized because as it goes on to say in verse 33, they saw that there was not anyone among them who had the authority of God. So they went forward with the covenant that they had made, with desires to be baptized, but they did not try to say they had an authority that they had not been granted. Later in verse 35 we read that later on they were able to receive the desires of the hearts and be baptized. What a beautiful story of faith and what great understanding those people had.

We often work with people who do not know how to recognize an answer to their prayer. They do not know how they can really know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and The Book of Mormon is the word of God. Most of these people are Christian, so I ask them how they know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. They usually tell us that they have never thought of that before, they just know. Then we are able to look at how they feel in their heart and their minds when they hear of Christ or read of Him. In the process of helping them to develop their testimonies and recognize answers to their prayers, I am blessed immensely. There are moments when everything is so clear to me and I feel like I can see eternity. And then as fast as it came, it leaves. But the impressions that came cannot be denied and will always remain with me.

The church is true. It is great to be a missionary!

Love,

Hermana Kinghorn

Cantemos, Gritemos con huestes del cielo

Querida Familia y Amigos

We had a good week here in Kent, as always. E. told us about an experience yesterday. About three weeks ago he and M. came to a branch activity. They decided to leave early and we asked if we could have a prayer with them before they left. I guess in the prayer I said something about them not drinking that night. He said that when they got home that night no one could find alcohol in the apartment so they went to the store where they are never asked for their IDs but that night they were and they didn't have IDs so they couldn't buy any alcohol. I know this is something little, but it is nice to know that our prayers are heard and answered even if we cannot see how they are. Hermana Fillmore and I never would have known about this if he hadn't told us.

On Saturday we were in the parking lot of an apartment complex preparing ourselves to knock on doors. We waved at a car that drove past us just as we usually do. This time the person in the car stopped and let down the window. He spoke Spanish and said to us, "Are you from a church?" And we told him that we were and that we were missionaries. He told us that is what he thought and asked us what we do. We explained that we teach people about the gospel of Jesus Christ and invite them to come to church on Sunday. He told us he would like that and asked if we had classes for children because he had a 2-year-old son and wanted to bring his son to church. We told him about the nursery and he asked if he should dress up. We told him that he could and that many people would be dressed up, but if he didn't have anything nice, that would be alright. We agreed on a time and place to meet the next day so he could follow us. The next day he came and was dressed in a suit! He stayed for all three meetings and told us that he liked it very much and asked us if he could have us over for dinner. We couldn't go that day but we set up an appointment for later this week. He then told us he would also see us at the branch activity on Saturday that was announced at church. I think Hermana Fillmore and I are still in shock.

We are so blessed with success here, but sometimes it can feel overwhelming to balance all of the new people we're working with and our other investigators that we are preparing for baptism. Hermana Fillmore and I attribute a lot of our success to singing during tracting this week. With a few doors people have seemed disinterested in our message so we ask if we can sing with them. After we sing they usually say something like, "Qué bonito." Then they turn from being disinterested to asking us where our church is located, what time the services start, and if everyone sings like that in our church. This really did happen to us more than once this week. We are trying to convert the elders but they don't believe that people would like to hear them sing.

We know that families that are united in their devotion to Jesus Christ and where every member has made covenants with God to follow Jesus Christ by priesthood authority are the strongest unit here on earth. So we will wear out our lives every day to bring this to the families here in Kent. I love being a missionary and serving here. I hope you are all well.

Con amor,

Hermana Kinghorn