"El campo blanco esta ya para la siega"

MTC Service day. Hermana Kinghorn and Rockwood received valentine socks.

This letter came a couple of weeks ago and I am just a little late in posting it.
Last week, February 23, Andrea called from the airport on her way to the
mission field sent a written letter that let me know that she arrived safely in
Seattle and that she loves her mission president and his wife, the Moffats.

Querida Familia,

It has been a bittersweet week. Five of the eight of us in our
district left for  South America on Monday morning. I'll admit
it, I cried when they left. I was  surprised at my reaction,
but after being with them all day for 9 weeks,  teaching with
them, eating with them, laughing with them, and testifying
with  them, it was hard to say goodbye. I know they will be
great missionaries. And  since they have dubbed me the "mom"
of the district, I am sure they will all  have the experience
of hearing at least once the voice of Hermana Kinghorn saying,
"Elder, that is probably not a good idea."

This week, the three of us that are left are going to have a
lot of  opportunities to practice teaching and evaluating
ourselves. We are also going  to speak Spanish with our
teachers for the whole day. Tomorrow we will host the  new
missionaries coming to the MTC.

The hermanas in my room and I have been having so much fun
during gym time  lately. I have discovered my inner basketball
player playing knock-out everyday.  We have even mastered
4-square. I will really miss the hermanas. They are so  great.

My time in the MTC is quickly coming to a close. It has also
been an amazing  spiritual experience that I wouldn't trade
for anything else. I remember shortly  before I came on my
mission I had the desire that I would learn lessons as a
missionary that would truly convert my heart and my character.
In the first two months, that has already been true.

I have been working on setting goals for my mission that are
based on faith. One  thing that has become more clear to me
recently is the need to set goals with  the help of the Lord
through prayer. When I receive a confirmation that the goal
I am setting is the will of God, then I can have the faith to
do everything  within my power to achieve the goal and I know
He will make up the rest. I am so excited to serve the people
of  Seattle...it is less than a week away!

Amor,

Hermana Kinghorn

Fwd: La semana antes de la semana final!

Querida Familia,

Things have been going well here in the MTC as our time

is winding down. Five of the elders leave on Monday and

the rest of us leave the next week. On Wednesday we have

a "Dia en el Campo" or "Day in the Field." Our teachers

scheduled appointments in the TE (Teaching Evaluation or

a center where missionaries can schedule appointments to

practice teaching teachers and receive feedback) for the

whole day. I will be teaching 11 times. All of our

teaching scenarios are based on real people that our

teachers taught on their missions. We have loved preparing

to teach based on real situations and we are excited and

nervous about tomorrow!

Another activity that we've been working on lately and

that we did the first few days here is watching "6 Billion

Others" videos online. If you haven't been there, I really

suggest visiting their website. Basically it is just

thousands (I think) of interviews of people from all over

the world. The interviewers ask all the people the same

questions and you're able to get a sense of who all of
these people are and how their life experiences shape them.

We have watched Josif, Penelope, and Bruno. After we watch

their video we talk about where the person is spiritually,

what more information you would want from them to better
teach them, and how the doctrines of the gospel could bless

them.

Lately my companions and I have been practicing sharing our

testimonies in Spanish. On Sunday we're allowed to walk up

to the temple and usually there are several hundred

missionaries up there. We usually find missionaries with

Spanish nametags and ask them if we can share our short

testimonies. I love testifying in Spanish because I have to

think about every word that I say and the way that I say it.

The only way for us to testify in Spanish is sincerely, and

that is beautiful.

The sisters that are going to serve English-speaking in

Seattle with me arrived here at the MTC last week. I was

a host sister, which means I greet the missionaries when

they arrive and take them around, and I was able to host

Sister Hughes (one of the Seattle-bound missionaries).

This means that when they leave in three weeks, I will be

flying with them!

Tengan cuidado. Dios vive. El los ama. Recureden que son

sus hijos. Hablen con El in oración cada dia y los seguirá.

(That was missing some accent marks above the E in "El").

Su amorosa hija y hermana,

Hermana Kinghorn

Fwd: Muchos besitos!

Querida Familia,

Our class made a commitment to finish reading El Libro
de Mormon by April 21.  That doesn't give me much time
and requires me to read a lot of Spanish everyday, but
the reading becomes easier and easier as I familiarize
myself with  the language. In fact, yesterday I finished
1 Nephi! 

I have been translating mom's conversion story into Spanish
with the tutor we  have here. I am only three sentences
away from finishing. It has been really  great language
training for me and I am excited to share portions of it
with  the people I teach.

Last week we had two new sisters arrive in our room named Hermanas
Rooney and  Drussel. My last companion left last Wednesday so
now I am companions with  Hermanas Neubert, Rockwood, and Tew.
All six of us have so much fun in our room.  They are great,
faithful hermanas that I love to be around. Hermanas Rooney and
Drussel like to exercise in the morning so we have been waking up
at 5:45 to go  to the exercise class they have for sisters in the
morning.  They teach pilates,  yoga, aerobics, and kickboxing.
The classes are so fun and are almost addictive.

:D  Something wonderful happened this morning: My companion and I
were talking in  Spanish and... something felt right! What I mean
by that is in the conversation  we had to conjugate an irregular
verb we paused for a second and then just  conjugated it because
it felt right. That is a good sign that we are learning  the
language and that we are hearing it enough that we don't have to
look up every verb in the dictionary.

I love studying the scriptures in Spanish. Comparing the different
connotations  that words have in Spanish with English has brought
a lot of insight into my gospel study. For example, the word for
"to hope" in Spanish is"esperar."  However, in Spanish it also
means "to wait" or "to expect." This has helped me  to better
understand what it means to hope for something; it is more than an
empty desire but waiting or expecting for God to fulfill His
promises because of our understanding of His character.

Con cariño,

Hermana Kinghorn 

Otra semana en el CCM

Querida Familia y Amigos,

Through the things I've struggled with this week, I have learned
to rely on Christ. One thing that has been hard about serving a
mission is not having my family or any of my close friends who
love me to turn to when I am struggling. But this has taught me
to rely on the Lord and he has comforted me in ways I had never
previously experienced. I can honestly say that as I worked with
the Lord to maintain the Spirit this week, I have never been
happier and more focused as a missionary. For some reason, in
my time of greatest pain, my call as a missionary has become so
clear to me.

I have had a lot of opportunities to provide service here in my
Branch that I am really grateful for. Two Sundays ago I sang
"Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" in Sacrament Meeting with
an elder in my district playing the piano. This last Sunday I
played the piano AND I had to give the talk. I was totally
shocked when they asked me to give the talk because I guess I
thought that because I was playing the piano I was safe...
wrong! My talk was on the Holy Ghost and I used Mom's conversion
story to show the differences in the Light of Christ, the Power
of the Holy Ghost, and the Gift of the Holy Ghost.

Also, Sister Vicki F. Matsumori came and spoke in Relief Society
on Sunday. She is the 2nd Counselor in the General Primary
Presidency. She talked with us about how sister missionaries can
help the primary children. We were able to learn a new primary
song together.

On the way home from the temple today, one sister in our group
felt like we should stop some other women who were leaving the
temple. She felt like we should all share our testimonies with
them and we did. One of the women started crying and said that
what we shared with her is exactly what she needed to hear. I
know that if we will listen the Spirit, the Lord will guide and
direct us in our everyday interactions. Being prompted by the
Spirit to serve others is not just for missionaries; it is for
everyone! I know that this is true!

Con muchisimo amor,

Hermana Kinghorn

Hermana Kinghorn and the MTC District

Standing in front of the map pointing to my mission.

















The whole district pointing to our missions. We're going all over the world!










Me, Hermana Mendez and Hermana Tetelpa in front of the
Provo Temple.

Hermana Howze and me in our room on Christmas Day.























My Friend Sister Natania Diriam who will be serving in the Phillipines








With Hermana Howze in front of the Provo Temple.















The most complete picture of my district. It was our teacher, Hermano Cowles, last day with us.















Hermana Howze and me on our first day (that is what the orange stickers are for)

Por fin!

Querida familia y amigos,

Pictures are on the way! I printed some pictures and put them in the mail today so you should be receiving them soon. Yay!
This morning my companions and I went to the temple and attended a sealing session. This was our first sealing session and we loved it. Anyway, it made me think that I cannot wait to see our whole family together in the temple. That will be a wonderful day. I love the temple.
My companions are great. They are both so funny and we are always laughing. The three of us have very different personalities, but somehow it just works out well for us. Hermana Tetelpa is leaving tomorrow for the field and three new sisters will arrive in our zone. They will be living with Hermana Mendez and me. There is always a little anxiety when new sisters arrive, but I am sure they will be great roommates and fellow missionaries. We are really going to miss Hermana Tetelpa though.
Every morning for the past week I have been waking up early so I can read El Libro De Mormon (The Book of Mormon) in Spanish for 30 minutes before I get ready in the morning. When I do this I feel like the whole day just goes better for me and I am able to focus more in class and in my personal study. I also feel myself learning Spanish more rapidly. It's great! If I can understand all of the obscure words in the scriptures, speaking and listening will be a breeze. I know Heavenly Father will bless me for my efforts to preach the gospel in Spanish.
This week we began complete Spanish immersion in class. From now on we will be teaching in Spanish. Last night I had a chance to teach in Spanish. It is hard because there are so many things I want to say but I am limited in my vocabulary and ability to conjugate. At the same time, it makes me focus on the basics and on being sincere so the spirit will be invited to the lesson. Please forgive me if my English becomes hard to understand. I am already forgetting how to spell.
This week I have listened to many of Elder Scott's talks in Spanish. One of the talks was from April 2007 on the Supernal Gift of Prayer. It has made me think a lot about my prayers and how well I am doing with actually communicating with Heavenly Father. I am working to have the faith to be more specific in my prayers to Him. What an incredible blessing that God, the All-Powerful, All-Knowing Creator of the universe, loves us and desires to communicate with us. I know that He hears and answers our prayers.

Les amo (I love you all),

Hermana Kinghorn

P.S. And one more story I forgot to tell you last time. I was making calls in Spanish in the Referral Center this week. I made a few successful calls in Spanish and was able to send the missionaries to one family and the Finding Faith in Christ DVD to another person. They actually understood me and were very patient with me. Success!

Espero que tengan un prospero ano! (there is a squiggly line over the n)!

Querida Familia,

Hermana Tetelpa from Salt Lake City, a native Spanish speaker, moved into our room last week. Hermana Howze and I agree that she is the best thing that ever happened to our Spanish. Tomorrow two other native speakers move into our room and on Thursday Hermana Howze leaves for the Dominican Republic MTC. This means I will be in a room of all native Spanish speakers. It will be good for my Spanish, but I'm not sure what it will do for my sanity!

Coincidentally I met a sister, her name is Hermana Galarza from California (originally from Ecuador)and she is going to serve in Seattle. She is a native speaker so she leaves soon for Seattle. We are hoping to be companions. She asked if I would help her with her English while she helps me with my Spanish.

One thing being a missionary is teaching me is that I can do hard things. The other day my district had a shift in the referral center (RC) where people can call in to have free DVDs or books (Bibles or copies of the Book of Mormon) mailed to them. There were no English calls so my teacher encouraged me to do Spanish calls. I did not want to and I was so afraid, but then I remembered that I came on a mission to do hard things. It turned out that most people weren't home when I called to confirm that they had received the items they asked for. One man hung up on me when I started talking about the church, and one woman patiently listened to me testify of Jesus Christ and told me I could call back. Yay!

Another thing I like about being a missionary is that the message sells itself. What I mean by this is that we as missionaries have an amazing message: the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I love preparing with my companion to invite the Spirit and then being able to testify of the message with complete certainty that if those we teach will read the Book of Mormon with an open heart and pray to their Heavenly Father to see if it is true with intent to act on their answer, they will know that it is the word of God, that Jesus is the Christ, and that Joseph Smith was a prophet. With such a powerful message, I can feel confidence that as I do all I can to serve the Lord, great things will happen in the lives of those I contact.

Hermana. Howze and I have had many opportunities to teach in the last few weeks. Twice we even taught part of the first lesson in Spanish. It was nerve-wracking. We love teaching and we have started to feel very comfortable transitioning back and forth, teaching with the spirit, teaching to needs, and teaching varying lengths of lessons with little preparation. It motivates me to learn Spanish so we can feel this same comfort and power when we teach in Spanish.

We are learning about Lesson 2 this week. I love the doctrine of the Plan of Salvation, especially how it is centered on the Savior and His Atonement. Today we were able to attend the temple, the perfect place to learn more about the plan. I love the temple and can't wait to go back next week. I can't say it enough, but serving a mission is hard work. I see how I have a death-grip on weaknesses, bad habits, and pride that I am working every day to loosen. I want to be "more fit for the kingdom." But this isn't something only for missionaries and the new year is a perfect time to look at our lives and see what we can change to become more like our Savior and be more fit to serve Him. I love you all. Thank your for your support. I hope you have a wonderful week.

Con amor,

Hermana Kinghorn