Querido Familia y amigos,
This was an amazing week. Two beautiful daughters of God were baptized on Saturday! I love my new companion, Hermana Rodrigues (the S is because she is Portuguese). This is basically her second transfer and she has a lot of enthusiasm for the work. She has such a good attitude and is willing to try new things and share her testimony and teach new principles. Sometimes an investigator will ask me a question that I know she can answer so I will turn to her and say, "What do you think, Hermana Rodrigues?" She says she panics a little bit when I turn to her but then she realizes that she can do a lot more things than she thought she could. Having a newer companion makes me stay on my toes to always be a good example. I am thankful to be her companion.
One Sister's baptism was perfect. Just the way she wanted it. Her husband's family came out of town from Idaho and Montana and she was baptized and confirmed by her brother-in-law. She was so happy to be confirmed a member of the Church and cried when she partook of the sacrament for the first time. I feel really privileged that I could be a part of her baptism.
For one baptismal interview we met with her and her mom just before to review the questions. She is so smart and has a testimony of all of the questions. We had taught her some hand signs for the ten commandments that she loved and was so disappointed that it wasn't a question in the baptismal interview so I told her to just show the elder that interviewed her that she knew all of the ten commandments even if he didn't ask her about them. She was very excited and did.
One of the recent converts baptized her and it was his first time. He did a great job. On Sunday we taught Janeth's primary class. They are all the girls between the age of 8 and 12 but most of them were baptized within the last six months. As we were talking about the childhood of Jesus Christ she raised her hand in the lesson and out of nowhere said, "Yesterday I felt like I was floating." I thought she was referring to the fact that she had to be baptized four times because she wasn't completely immersed and the words were just a little off so I said, "Is that from being baptized so many times?" She said, "No. It was after I was baptized. I was so happy I just felt like I was floating." She is so cute. Then all of the other girls wanted to talk about how they felt when they were baptized and they just all started talking about how they feel the Holy Ghost in their lives.
I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. My testimony of Him grows every day.
I love you all very much.
Hermana Kinghorn
Monday, February 7, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
La hermana Probst nos ha dejado january 25
Hermana Kinghorn and Rodrigues at Alki Beach
Querida Familia y amigos,
After seven transfers here, my companion was finally transferred today. She will be in Kent with Hermana Fillmore while I am here with Hermana Rodrigues who was with Hermana Fillmore. Hermana Rodrigues is from California and went to BYU-Idaho before her mission. This is her secondish transfer and I am really excited to work with her. Last week was very busy and this upcoming one looks like it will be as well.
We have three baptisms planned for Saturday with three amazing women.
A few weeks ago Hermana Probst and I were riding on the bus coming home from South Park. There was a young Hispanic man sitting across from us who was leaned over and sleeping but shortly after we got on he woke up and we started talking to him right away. He was half Mexican and half Irish so he spoke English and Spanish. He said that he didn't know much about our church and that he had been going with his family to a Christian church and that they had all been baptized but that he wasn't yet sure if he wanted to be. So of course we started talking with him about the restoration and The Book of Mormon. His stop came up but we just got off with him and we were teaching him as we were walking toward his apartment. He committed to read The Book of Mormon (Enos 1) and to a church tour that Thursday. Then we could never really get a hold of him again. Then last week in district meeting the English elders in his area were telling us about this man they knew named Israel and we asked them if it was the same person... and it was! It turns out that the elders had contacted him before we met him on the bus (although he must not have realized at first that we were from the same church) and had a good talk with him on the street. Then he went out of town and they couldn't contact him. Apparently we met him right after he got back from out of town. When they contacted him again he told them that he had met us and had been reading The Book of Mormon. Pretty great! You never know the influence that you will have with other people.
Yesterday Hermana Probst and I were out contacting when all of the students were getting dropped off from the high school bus. So we decided to contact them. We were able to teach a group of four of them who are all recent immigrants from Spanish-speaking countries about the Book of Mormon and to commit them all to read it! We will be back on Thursday to see how it goes.
I love you all very much. Have a fabulous week!
Con amor,
Hermana Kinghorn
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Muchisimo Amor
Querida Familia y amigos,
This was an amazing week for us. We invited three people to be baptized and they all accepted! The next lesson we had after we invited one Sister to be baptized she already picked out who she wanted to give talks, her hymns, a special musical number, and her witnesses. She said she researched on the internet how to plan an LDS baptism because she was so excited. On Friday they went on a double-date with another couple in the ward. She reads what we leave her and even more. She said that she feels like her testimony is really growing. We are very excited for her baptism!
The nine-year-old from Chiuhuahua is so cute. She hasn't been enrolled in school yet because they have to get some records sent over from Mexico so she has plenty of time to read the scriptures. She is so excited to be baptized!
Last week the English elders tracted into a 14-year-old named Jose who told them that they could send Spanish missionaries back because he thought his family would be willing to listen to our message. Often when this happens and we arrive the parents are upset that their child told someone to come back. We stopped by one day and were able to talk to Jose who was very charming. Then on Sunday we were able to meet the entire family. The mother looked a little confused when she answered the door but when I asked her if we could share a message with her family she invited us right in. In talking with the family they told us that they were raised Catholic but that they don't have strong ties to any certain religion. The mother just a week ago had what seemed to me to be an anxiety attack for the first time in her life just last week and she is very open to listening because she said that it startled her. They both said that they had never heard of our church but then as we started to teach the first lesson we asked if they had heard of The Book of Mormon and the dad said that he had and that he even had a copy and had read a lot of it. It turns out that years ago when they first arrived here in the United States and he had come up here to work while his wife was still in California that his bosses were Americans and members of the Church and had given him a copy of The Book of Mormon. He had never met with missionaries or anything so he didn't know that we were from that church. They said that before they went to a Christian church but they had a bad experience there and stopped going but that they are open to go to another one. I just can't help but think about the bosses of the dad who probably will never know that one of their employees from years ago would come in contact with the missionaries and accept the invitation to learn more. I am thankful for their missionary-mindedness and I hope that all of us have the courage to be missionaries and the faith to believe that we can participate in God's work to prepare the hearts of His children to receive the gospel.
I love you all very much!
Hermana Kinghorn
This was an amazing week for us. We invited three people to be baptized and they all accepted! The next lesson we had after we invited one Sister to be baptized she already picked out who she wanted to give talks, her hymns, a special musical number, and her witnesses. She said she researched on the internet how to plan an LDS baptism because she was so excited. On Friday they went on a double-date with another couple in the ward. She reads what we leave her and even more. She said that she feels like her testimony is really growing. We are very excited for her baptism!
The nine-year-old from Chiuhuahua is so cute. She hasn't been enrolled in school yet because they have to get some records sent over from Mexico so she has plenty of time to read the scriptures. She is so excited to be baptized!
Last week the English elders tracted into a 14-year-old named Jose who told them that they could send Spanish missionaries back because he thought his family would be willing to listen to our message. Often when this happens and we arrive the parents are upset that their child told someone to come back. We stopped by one day and were able to talk to Jose who was very charming. Then on Sunday we were able to meet the entire family. The mother looked a little confused when she answered the door but when I asked her if we could share a message with her family she invited us right in. In talking with the family they told us that they were raised Catholic but that they don't have strong ties to any certain religion. The mother just a week ago had what seemed to me to be an anxiety attack for the first time in her life just last week and she is very open to listening because she said that it startled her. They both said that they had never heard of our church but then as we started to teach the first lesson we asked if they had heard of The Book of Mormon and the dad said that he had and that he even had a copy and had read a lot of it. It turns out that years ago when they first arrived here in the United States and he had come up here to work while his wife was still in California that his bosses were Americans and members of the Church and had given him a copy of The Book of Mormon. He had never met with missionaries or anything so he didn't know that we were from that church. They said that before they went to a Christian church but they had a bad experience there and stopped going but that they are open to go to another one. I just can't help but think about the bosses of the dad who probably will never know that one of their employees from years ago would come in contact with the missionaries and accept the invitation to learn more. I am thankful for their missionary-mindedness and I hope that all of us have the courage to be missionaries and the faith to believe that we can participate in God's work to prepare the hearts of His children to receive the gospel.
I love you all very much!
Hermana Kinghorn
Monday, January 10, 2011
El día de milagros
Querida Familia y amigos,
What a great week! We had our first lesson with the English investigator who wanted to be taught by sisters. She is a very special person and she has been prepared over many years to accept the restored gospel. Growing up her best friend was a Latter-day Saint. She went to primary and young women a few times a long with some church dances. She has always believed in Jesus Christ and had a strong faith in Him. In college she took a class on world religions that caused her to think about her beliefs. She said it was then that she realized that she didn't know if she really believed in Jesus Christ or if it was just all that she had been taught so she prayed to know if Jesus was the Son of God. She describes that she felt an overwhelming and powerful feeling of peace wash over her and in that moment she knew that it was true. Then ten years later she ended up marrying a very less-active member of the Church; however, his sisters are very active members. Just a few months ago in the car home from visiting them in Idaho she said that she prayed to ask God if this message was true and if it was what she should do in her life and that there in the car she received an answer to that silent prayer in the exact same way she had now more than fifteen years ago. She is very prepared. We left her three chapters to read in the Book of Mormon as homework and she complained that it was not enough so we gave her the pamphlet and the testimonies at the beginning. The next day she called us and asked us to come over to meet one of her friends. When we got there she said she had already read "everything" that we had left her and wanted us to quiz her on it while her friend was there. Then she said nevermind she would just tell us everything that she learned. She recounted us one of the most beautiful and well-understood versions of the restoration that I had ever heard. It really is a privilege to teach her.
This week we were looking for a referral and knocked on the wrong door. At first I started speaking with the lady at the door in Spanish but then realized that she didn't speak Spanish and told her in English that we were just looking for a Spanish-Speaking family. She said, "No Español!" with an American accent and slammed the door in our face. Hermana Probst and I had to hold in our laughter until we got outside. For some reason quite a few people hear me speaking in Spanish and then when I start speaking in English to them I think in their minds they feel like I am speaking Spanish so they say they can't understand me. It was funny.
A man of a non-Christian religion this week stopped us and started using logic to try to convince us basically that we were wrong to believe in Jesus Christ. The only problem is that he did not account for the fact that he was talking to two Latter-day Saint missionaries. His points may have been powerful against some doctrines but they sounded so hollow against the beautiful restored doctrines of Jesus Christ.
Con amor,
Hermana Kinghorn
What a great week! We had our first lesson with the English investigator who wanted to be taught by sisters. She is a very special person and she has been prepared over many years to accept the restored gospel. Growing up her best friend was a Latter-day Saint. She went to primary and young women a few times a long with some church dances. She has always believed in Jesus Christ and had a strong faith in Him. In college she took a class on world religions that caused her to think about her beliefs. She said it was then that she realized that she didn't know if she really believed in Jesus Christ or if it was just all that she had been taught so she prayed to know if Jesus was the Son of God. She describes that she felt an overwhelming and powerful feeling of peace wash over her and in that moment she knew that it was true. Then ten years later she ended up marrying a very less-active member of the Church; however, his sisters are very active members. Just a few months ago in the car home from visiting them in Idaho she said that she prayed to ask God if this message was true and if it was what she should do in her life and that there in the car she received an answer to that silent prayer in the exact same way she had now more than fifteen years ago. She is very prepared. We left her three chapters to read in the Book of Mormon as homework and she complained that it was not enough so we gave her the pamphlet and the testimonies at the beginning. The next day she called us and asked us to come over to meet one of her friends. When we got there she said she had already read "everything" that we had left her and wanted us to quiz her on it while her friend was there. Then she said nevermind she would just tell us everything that she learned. She recounted us one of the most beautiful and well-understood versions of the restoration that I had ever heard. It really is a privilege to teach her.
This week we were looking for a referral and knocked on the wrong door. At first I started speaking with the lady at the door in Spanish but then realized that she didn't speak Spanish and told her in English that we were just looking for a Spanish-Speaking family. She said, "No Español!" with an American accent and slammed the door in our face. Hermana Probst and I had to hold in our laughter until we got outside. For some reason quite a few people hear me speaking in Spanish and then when I start speaking in English to them I think in their minds they feel like I am speaking Spanish so they say they can't understand me. It was funny.
A man of a non-Christian religion this week stopped us and started using logic to try to convince us basically that we were wrong to believe in Jesus Christ. The only problem is that he did not account for the fact that he was talking to two Latter-day Saint missionaries. His points may have been powerful against some doctrines but they sounded so hollow against the beautiful restored doctrines of Jesus Christ.
Con amor,
Hermana Kinghorn
Monday, January 3, 2011
Feliz Año!
Queries familia y amigos,
Today someone in the grocery store saw our nametags and that they were in Spanish and started to talk to us. He said, "De donde sois?" Which if you speak Spanish is this conjugation called vosotros that they only use in Spain and in the scriptures. It was strange because I can honestly say that no one has spoken to me in vosotros in my entire mission so I did not understand what he was saying until I realized that he was speaking to me in what to us is basically scripture language. We told him where we were from. He was obviously from Spain.
We didn't baptize anyone in December. But we never lost our faith. I feel like I am a one hundred times better missionary than I was before this huge trial of our faith. I am better at leaving behind commitments and at sharing my testimony. We spend less time in breaks and more time working. I am happier as a missionary in every way. 2011 will be a great year.
We had someone at church on Sunday! We ran around all Sunday morning trying to help our investigators to get to church and none of them were home or awake. We were sitting in the chapel waiting for sacrament meeting to start when another one of our investigators that we had talked to on Sunday walked in with her six children. Her parents and brothers are members that I knew when I served in Federal Way. She loves the church and had a good experience there.
Also, one of the recent convert families that we have been working with and having member lessons with has seen some amazing missionary success. We promised them that it would happen for them in 12 weeks and we had a family home evening at their house on Sunday where they invited the father's brother and sister-in-law (she is not a member) and another friend who is not a member. The husband of the non-member has just started going back to church because of his brother and he told us that he wants his wife to be baptized.
Have you read Elder Nelson's talk from the Priesthood session of General Conference? I love it! It is so perfect about member missionary work. My favorite part is his story about the Book of Mormon. I am going to respond the same way he did in the future when someone asks me a similar question. Let me know what you think about the talk! I hope you all had a very happy new year. Love you!
Con amor,
Hermana Kinghorn
Today someone in the grocery store saw our nametags and that they were in Spanish and started to talk to us. He said, "De donde sois?" Which if you speak Spanish is this conjugation called vosotros that they only use in Spain and in the scriptures. It was strange because I can honestly say that no one has spoken to me in vosotros in my entire mission so I did not understand what he was saying until I realized that he was speaking to me in what to us is basically scripture language. We told him where we were from. He was obviously from Spain.
We didn't baptize anyone in December. But we never lost our faith. I feel like I am a one hundred times better missionary than I was before this huge trial of our faith. I am better at leaving behind commitments and at sharing my testimony. We spend less time in breaks and more time working. I am happier as a missionary in every way. 2011 will be a great year.
We had someone at church on Sunday! We ran around all Sunday morning trying to help our investigators to get to church and none of them were home or awake. We were sitting in the chapel waiting for sacrament meeting to start when another one of our investigators that we had talked to on Sunday walked in with her six children. Her parents and brothers are members that I knew when I served in Federal Way. She loves the church and had a good experience there.
Also, one of the recent convert families that we have been working with and having member lessons with has seen some amazing missionary success. We promised them that it would happen for them in 12 weeks and we had a family home evening at their house on Sunday where they invited the father's brother and sister-in-law (she is not a member) and another friend who is not a member. The husband of the non-member has just started going back to church because of his brother and he told us that he wants his wife to be baptized.
Have you read Elder Nelson's talk from the Priesthood session of General Conference? I love it! It is so perfect about member missionary work. My favorite part is his story about the Book of Mormon. I am going to respond the same way he did in the future when someone asks me a similar question. Let me know what you think about the talk! I hope you all had a very happy new year. Love you!
Con amor,
Hermana Kinghorn
Monday, December 20, 2010
Feliz Navidad
Mi querida familia y amigos,
Feliz Navidad!
We had a lot of new investigators this week. I think something that has helped us is that Hermana Probst and I are really making that effort to give out a copy of the Book of Mormon every day to someone who is committed to reading it. So far we have been very successful. And we have noticed many more opportunities to share The Book of Mormon with people than we did before.
Hermana Probst and I are serving in the local food bank every week for a few hours. It has been a good experience for us to serve the Hispanic community and we have even seen people we met at the food bank while contacting and vice versa. Plus, service just feels good.
We had a lovely mission Christmas activity on Wednesday at the stake center in Bellevue. We ate dinner, watched Mr. Kreuger's Christmas and The Grinch, and performed a special musical number as a zone (I played the piano!). President Larkin shared a special Christmas story from his mission about how they were in the middle of the country in northern Japan where no one was Christian and how they had a branch with 8 members so they knocked doors all day long and because they were so far out in the field they didn't end up going home they just hoped someone would let them in. No one let them in until that night when a grandma opened the door and saw that they nametags said "Elder" so just assummed that they were someone important. He said she bowed and asked them to come inside. It was a very large house and a lot of extended family lived there. They were all upset that she had let these strangers into the house. The missionaries told them that they could share with them what to them was the American holiday of Christmas was all about. They agreed to that and they shared the Christmas story with them. He said that as they continued teaching more and more people from throughout the whole house gathered to hear them and that the Spirit was strongly present there. What a special story. We are excited to go out on Christmas day and share with people about Jesus Christ. I love being a missionary! I hope you have a very, very Feliz Navidad!
Con amor,
Hermana Kinghorn
Feliz Navidad!
We had a lot of new investigators this week. I think something that has helped us is that Hermana Probst and I are really making that effort to give out a copy of the Book of Mormon every day to someone who is committed to reading it. So far we have been very successful. And we have noticed many more opportunities to share The Book of Mormon with people than we did before.
Hermana Probst and I are serving in the local food bank every week for a few hours. It has been a good experience for us to serve the Hispanic community and we have even seen people we met at the food bank while contacting and vice versa. Plus, service just feels good.
We had a lovely mission Christmas activity on Wednesday at the stake center in Bellevue. We ate dinner, watched Mr. Kreuger's Christmas and The Grinch, and performed a special musical number as a zone (I played the piano!). President Larkin shared a special Christmas story from his mission about how they were in the middle of the country in northern Japan where no one was Christian and how they had a branch with 8 members so they knocked doors all day long and because they were so far out in the field they didn't end up going home they just hoped someone would let them in. No one let them in until that night when a grandma opened the door and saw that they nametags said "Elder" so just assummed that they were someone important. He said she bowed and asked them to come inside. It was a very large house and a lot of extended family lived there. They were all upset that she had let these strangers into the house. The missionaries told them that they could share with them what to them was the American holiday of Christmas was all about. They agreed to that and they shared the Christmas story with them. He said that as they continued teaching more and more people from throughout the whole house gathered to hear them and that the Spirit was strongly present there. What a special story. We are excited to go out on Christmas day and share with people about Jesus Christ. I love being a missionary! I hope you have a very, very Feliz Navidad!
Con amor,
Hermana Kinghorn
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
La fe para mover montañas
Querida familia y amigos,
We had a great week here in Seattle. To be honest, every week is good as a missionary.
We went to the temple this morning. I really love the temple. We were able to arrive early and do our personal study in the temple. I am so grateful for the impressions that I received there.
Yesterday we went on exchanges and I was in Federal Way with Hermana Heywood, the new sister, while Hermana Melton was with my companion here in Seattle. There wasn't much planned for the morning so we decided to go tracting and for some reason this locked apartment building that Hermana Melton and I had tried to get into months ago came to my mind. Months earlier Hermana Melton and I had really wanted to get into the building. We heard Spanish music playing in one of the apartments so we stood outside of the balcony and shouted up to the apartment in Spanish, "Hola?! Buenas tardes!" But no one ever answered and we were never able to enter the building. This time we arrived at the apartment complex and there happened to be someone there cleaning the carpets of the building so the door was open and we could enter. We tracted into a man named Jose who told us that he had lived in Provo, UT for six years ten years ago and that he went to the Mormon church there. Sometimes people say things like that and they think that and they are really members but they think that because they don't go to church anymore they are no longer members so I asked him if he had ever been baptized. He told us that he hadn't but that he regretted it and that he wanted to be baptized. We have been praying as a mission to find people to help to be baptized in the month of December and I am so grateful that the Spirit whispered to me that he was one of them. So right there in the door in the lesson we were having with him I invited him to be baptized on December 22... and he accepted. Miracles are happening here. It turns out that if Hermana Melton and I would have tracted the building earlier, Jose would have been in Mexico visiting his family. I know that things happen for a reason.
I know that this gospel is true through the power of the Holy Ghost. I know that we have a Heavenly Father who love us. And I love Him. I am so thankful for our older brother, Jesus Christ, and for His atonement. Thank you for all of your prayers and have a fabulous week!
Con amor,
Hermana Kinghorn
We had a great week here in Seattle. To be honest, every week is good as a missionary.
We went to the temple this morning. I really love the temple. We were able to arrive early and do our personal study in the temple. I am so grateful for the impressions that I received there.
Yesterday we went on exchanges and I was in Federal Way with Hermana Heywood, the new sister, while Hermana Melton was with my companion here in Seattle. There wasn't much planned for the morning so we decided to go tracting and for some reason this locked apartment building that Hermana Melton and I had tried to get into months ago came to my mind. Months earlier Hermana Melton and I had really wanted to get into the building. We heard Spanish music playing in one of the apartments so we stood outside of the balcony and shouted up to the apartment in Spanish, "Hola?! Buenas tardes!" But no one ever answered and we were never able to enter the building. This time we arrived at the apartment complex and there happened to be someone there cleaning the carpets of the building so the door was open and we could enter. We tracted into a man named Jose who told us that he had lived in Provo, UT for six years ten years ago and that he went to the Mormon church there. Sometimes people say things like that and they think that and they are really members but they think that because they don't go to church anymore they are no longer members so I asked him if he had ever been baptized. He told us that he hadn't but that he regretted it and that he wanted to be baptized. We have been praying as a mission to find people to help to be baptized in the month of December and I am so grateful that the Spirit whispered to me that he was one of them. So right there in the door in the lesson we were having with him I invited him to be baptized on December 22... and he accepted. Miracles are happening here. It turns out that if Hermana Melton and I would have tracted the building earlier, Jose would have been in Mexico visiting his family. I know that things happen for a reason.
I know that this gospel is true through the power of the Holy Ghost. I know that we have a Heavenly Father who love us. And I love Him. I am so thankful for our older brother, Jesus Christ, and for His atonement. Thank you for all of your prayers and have a fabulous week!
Con amor,
Hermana Kinghorn
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