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
Monday, December 20, 2010
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
Monday, November 29, 2010
¡Nevó!
Querida Familia y amigos,
It snowed here. The reaction to snow here is incredible because the whole world shuts down. We were supposed to have flurries, but instead it was something like maybe an inch or two and it was complete chaos. On Monday we were volunteering at the food bank and when we arrived it was snowing a little but it didn't look too bad. However, when we left there was quite a bit more snow. We tried a few ways to get home, but all the roads were filled with accidents or were shut down so we finally just decided to stay around where we were and we went to the store to buy an ice scraper for the car and an emergency food supply in case we ever get stuck anywhere. When we left again the road looked a lot better and we were able to get home. Then came the word that we weren't going to be able to use our cars because the roads were so bad. We were told to have members drive us or to stay at home and make phone calls, work on the area book, basically just do whatever we could. So we decided to make cookies while we were working on that stuff and we took them to our neighbors that speak Spanish. They were all really surprised, but I think it was a good way to build friendships with them.
We have a new investigator who is going to be baptized in December and he is so great! The English elders here contacted him in the parking lot of the grocery store and he had already learned from missionaries in New York and in the Dominican Republic. He is here looking for work and a place to live because he wants to move his family here. Last Saturday we invited him to be baptized and he said, "Por supuesto," which means, "of course." He came to church with us on Sunday. He had trouble coming the last few Sundays so we finally decided that we were going to take the bus to where he lives and ride on the bus with him to church. I think he had a really good experience. It was the Primary Program on Sunday and it was so cute! It was my first Primary Program in Spanish and it was great.
Thanksgiving went well for us. We had an activity for half of the mission in the morning in Federal Way. There were a lot of activities going on, but it ended up that the Spanish missionaries just sat around and talked the whole time. We are basically our own mini-mission of 20 missionaries. It's nice because we've all served together for a while and in a lot of the areas there are elders and sisters serving in the same branches. There is a lot of unity among the Spanish missionaries.
I have to say that this is the happiest time of my life! The mission has been a struggle up to this point, but I feel like I have finally started to learn what it feels like to lose myself in the work. No matter what happens to us everyday or how much disappointment I feel, there is this underlying happiness in all of it. I love being a missionary. I am so amazed with my loving Heavenly Father who allowed me to have this sacred privilege. I know that this is the work of our Savior Jesus Christ. I love this spiritual adventure and the opportunity to come to know Him better. It was worth any price to be here. I love you all SO much!
Con amor,
Hermana Kinghorn
It snowed here. The reaction to snow here is incredible because the whole world shuts down. We were supposed to have flurries, but instead it was something like maybe an inch or two and it was complete chaos. On Monday we were volunteering at the food bank and when we arrived it was snowing a little but it didn't look too bad. However, when we left there was quite a bit more snow. We tried a few ways to get home, but all the roads were filled with accidents or were shut down so we finally just decided to stay around where we were and we went to the store to buy an ice scraper for the car and an emergency food supply in case we ever get stuck anywhere. When we left again the road looked a lot better and we were able to get home. Then came the word that we weren't going to be able to use our cars because the roads were so bad. We were told to have members drive us or to stay at home and make phone calls, work on the area book, basically just do whatever we could. So we decided to make cookies while we were working on that stuff and we took them to our neighbors that speak Spanish. They were all really surprised, but I think it was a good way to build friendships with them.
We have a new investigator who is going to be baptized in December and he is so great! The English elders here contacted him in the parking lot of the grocery store and he had already learned from missionaries in New York and in the Dominican Republic. He is here looking for work and a place to live because he wants to move his family here. Last Saturday we invited him to be baptized and he said, "Por supuesto," which means, "of course." He came to church with us on Sunday. He had trouble coming the last few Sundays so we finally decided that we were going to take the bus to where he lives and ride on the bus with him to church. I think he had a really good experience. It was the Primary Program on Sunday and it was so cute! It was my first Primary Program in Spanish and it was great.
Thanksgiving went well for us. We had an activity for half of the mission in the morning in Federal Way. There were a lot of activities going on, but it ended up that the Spanish missionaries just sat around and talked the whole time. We are basically our own mini-mission of 20 missionaries. It's nice because we've all served together for a while and in a lot of the areas there are elders and sisters serving in the same branches. There is a lot of unity among the Spanish missionaries.
I have to say that this is the happiest time of my life! The mission has been a struggle up to this point, but I feel like I have finally started to learn what it feels like to lose myself in the work. No matter what happens to us everyday or how much disappointment I feel, there is this underlying happiness in all of it. I love being a missionary. I am so amazed with my loving Heavenly Father who allowed me to have this sacred privilege. I know that this is the work of our Savior Jesus Christ. I love this spiritual adventure and the opportunity to come to know Him better. It was worth any price to be here. I love you all SO much!
Con amor,
Hermana Kinghorn
Monday, November 15, 2010
Georgetown in Washington. Not to be confused with Georgetown in the other Washington.
Querida Familia y amigo
Hermana Probst and I rode the bus on Thursday. We saw this little part of Seattle on the map called Georgetown and based on its location we thought that there were probably Spanish speakers there so we hopped on a bus that went through that part of town on its way to Seattle. Then while on the bus we were talking to someone who suggested this park in Seattle that we should go to so we stayed on all of the way until Seattle. I didn't realize how long it had been since I had been to a city until we got off the bus. We talked to a few people who spoke Spanish, but it was very ineffective so we got on the next bus out of there. On that bus we talked to a young man from Mexico that basically just wanted to argue and to tell us what we believed. It was very frustrating. Later that day we got lost and ended up going through Georgetown on accident. It was small, but kind of eery at night. Not anything like the Georgetown in the other Washington. We'll see if we go back during the day.
I love the members here in Seattle. They are very loving. I think part of it is me adjusting to the culture and feeling more at ease with being a missionary. One thing I have noticed is how important it is to really love the people and to express that love. It was something that I learned from Hermana Melton. Now I can show more love because I'm not expecting anything in return.
Hermana Probst and I had a very good talk about the atonement in our companionship study this morning. I am so grateful for the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and how through the truths that have been restored we have more access to our Savior's atonement. We can come to know Him better through the scriptures that have been restored. We have preisthood power that allows us to make covenants with our Heavenly Father that we might receive more fully the blessings and cleansing of our sins from the atonement. We enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost which allows us to use the atonement in our daily lives. We have temples where we can learn even more about Christ. I love this gospel. I cannot deny that it is true because I have tasted of it and I know that it is good. I love you all so much!
Con amor,
Hermana Kinghorn
Hermana Probst and I rode the bus on Thursday. We saw this little part of Seattle on the map called Georgetown and based on its location we thought that there were probably Spanish speakers there so we hopped on a bus that went through that part of town on its way to Seattle. Then while on the bus we were talking to someone who suggested this park in Seattle that we should go to so we stayed on all of the way until Seattle. I didn't realize how long it had been since I had been to a city until we got off the bus. We talked to a few people who spoke Spanish, but it was very ineffective so we got on the next bus out of there. On that bus we talked to a young man from Mexico that basically just wanted to argue and to tell us what we believed. It was very frustrating. Later that day we got lost and ended up going through Georgetown on accident. It was small, but kind of eery at night. Not anything like the Georgetown in the other Washington. We'll see if we go back during the day.
I love the members here in Seattle. They are very loving. I think part of it is me adjusting to the culture and feeling more at ease with being a missionary. One thing I have noticed is how important it is to really love the people and to express that love. It was something that I learned from Hermana Melton. Now I can show more love because I'm not expecting anything in return.
Hermana Probst and I had a very good talk about the atonement in our companionship study this morning. I am so grateful for the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and how through the truths that have been restored we have more access to our Savior's atonement. We can come to know Him better through the scriptures that have been restored. We have preisthood power that allows us to make covenants with our Heavenly Father that we might receive more fully the blessings and cleansing of our sins from the atonement. We enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost which allows us to use the atonement in our daily lives. We have temples where we can learn even more about Christ. I love this gospel. I cannot deny that it is true because I have tasted of it and I know that it is good. I love you all so much!
Con amor,
Hermana Kinghorn
Monday, November 8, 2010
La primera semana de pura locura en Seattle
Querida Familia y amigos,
It was a great first week here in Seattle. I am completely overwhelmed. We have a very large area that is all urban and packed full of people. We also have amazing members here who are so welcoming. I'm grateful to be overwhelmed with too much to do and not too little.
I love my new companion. She is so sweet. She's from Utah and speaks Spanish really well. We are working great together and I know that we will see miracles here.
Just this week we invited one of our investigator to be baptized and he said yes. He is such a humble and good man who is looking to make changes in his life. The major challenge will be to make sure that he can make it to his work in downtown Seattle on time. I know that it will work out for him.
In the Seahurst branch there are elders and sisters and the elders had a baptism on Saturday. President and Sister Larkin payed a surprise visit to the baptism and the branch president asked them to share their testimonies and then he turned to me and said, "Hermana Kinghorn will interpret." I was surprised but it went really well. I love all the opportunities that we have to interpret for people whether it is a member who needs to write a note to their child's school, in sacrament meeting, or at a baptism. I feel so blessed to be able to help people.
I had a really great study of The Book of Mormon this week. I was reading in 3 Nephi 1 and I am always so impressed by the faith that the people exercised. It makes me think as a missionary that if we have faith we are going to find someone to teach, we can never lose that faith even if we don't see when it is going to happen. I know that Heavenly Father blesses us for our faith. I know that The Book of Mormon is a true testament of Jesus Christ.
Con amor,
Hermana Kinghorn
It was a great first week here in Seattle. I am completely overwhelmed. We have a very large area that is all urban and packed full of people. We also have amazing members here who are so welcoming. I'm grateful to be overwhelmed with too much to do and not too little.
I love my new companion. She is so sweet. She's from Utah and speaks Spanish really well. We are working great together and I know that we will see miracles here.
Just this week we invited one of our investigator to be baptized and he said yes. He is such a humble and good man who is looking to make changes in his life. The major challenge will be to make sure that he can make it to his work in downtown Seattle on time. I know that it will work out for him.
In the Seahurst branch there are elders and sisters and the elders had a baptism on Saturday. President and Sister Larkin payed a surprise visit to the baptism and the branch president asked them to share their testimonies and then he turned to me and said, "Hermana Kinghorn will interpret." I was surprised but it went really well. I love all the opportunities that we have to interpret for people whether it is a member who needs to write a note to their child's school, in sacrament meeting, or at a baptism. I feel so blessed to be able to help people.
I had a really great study of The Book of Mormon this week. I was reading in 3 Nephi 1 and I am always so impressed by the faith that the people exercised. It makes me think as a missionary that if we have faith we are going to find someone to teach, we can never lose that faith even if we don't see when it is going to happen. I know that Heavenly Father blesses us for our faith. I know that The Book of Mormon is a true testament of Jesus Christ.
Con amor,
Hermana Kinghorn
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
"The Bluest Skies You've Ever Seen are in Seattle!"
Querida Familia y amigos,
I was transferred today to... Seattle! I will now be serving in the Seahurst Spanish Branch in the Seattle Stake. It was all very suprising because we thought for certain I would be in Federal Way for a long time, but Hermana Melton is training a new sister there and I am here with the lovely Hermana Probst. She came out one transfer after me and is great! She has been here in Seattle for her entire mission. I will really miss Hermana Melton and all of the members in Federal Way. The members there are so great and Hermana Melton and I worked really well together. I'm so grateful for all that I learned there and am really excited to work here with Hermana Probst.
Hermana Hoskins went home yesterday and because we had to pick up her companion (Hermana Probst) I was able to say good-bye to her. It was definitely bitter-sweet to see her go because she is such a great missionary, but we are happy for all of the things that lie in store. I was blessed to have such a great trainer.
The biggest thing that happened this week was the ward Halloween party. The members did such a great job and probably 2/3 of the Spanish-speakers there were not members of the church. We were able to talk to a lot of people and we even had a lesson with the friend of one of the members after.
I was reading in The Book of Mormon this week and it reminded me of the importance of following the promptings of the Spirit. It reminded of the talk by Elder Bednar from General Conference. I like what he said about how everything we do after we are baptized should be geared toward following the command to "receive the Holy Ghost." If we have the Holy Ghost we will do the right things in this life and we will be able to endure to the end and receive eternal life. In Helaman 10 it talks about the prophet Nephi. In verse 4 we read that a voice said to him that he was blessed for the things that he had done and for his dilligence. He was a great missionary and he didn't always get to see the results of his work, just like in life we don't always know or understand the results of all of our actions. In verse 16 we read that he had the Spirit of God with him that gave him power and lead his work. When we have the spirit with us we can have confidence just like Elder Eyring said in Conference. We can know that we are following our Savior Jesus Christ and we can trust that we will receive all of the promises that our Heavenly Father has given us. We will trust them and they will trust us.
I love you all!!
Con amor,
Hermana Kinghorn
I was transferred today to... Seattle! I will now be serving in the Seahurst Spanish Branch in the Seattle Stake. It was all very suprising because we thought for certain I would be in Federal Way for a long time, but Hermana Melton is training a new sister there and I am here with the lovely Hermana Probst. She came out one transfer after me and is great! She has been here in Seattle for her entire mission. I will really miss Hermana Melton and all of the members in Federal Way. The members there are so great and Hermana Melton and I worked really well together. I'm so grateful for all that I learned there and am really excited to work here with Hermana Probst.
Hermana Hoskins went home yesterday and because we had to pick up her companion (Hermana Probst) I was able to say good-bye to her. It was definitely bitter-sweet to see her go because she is such a great missionary, but we are happy for all of the things that lie in store. I was blessed to have such a great trainer.
The biggest thing that happened this week was the ward Halloween party. The members did such a great job and probably 2/3 of the Spanish-speakers there were not members of the church. We were able to talk to a lot of people and we even had a lesson with the friend of one of the members after.
I was reading in The Book of Mormon this week and it reminded me of the importance of following the promptings of the Spirit. It reminded of the talk by Elder Bednar from General Conference. I like what he said about how everything we do after we are baptized should be geared toward following the command to "receive the Holy Ghost." If we have the Holy Ghost we will do the right things in this life and we will be able to endure to the end and receive eternal life. In Helaman 10 it talks about the prophet Nephi. In verse 4 we read that a voice said to him that he was blessed for the things that he had done and for his dilligence. He was a great missionary and he didn't always get to see the results of his work, just like in life we don't always know or understand the results of all of our actions. In verse 16 we read that he had the Spirit of God with him that gave him power and lead his work. When we have the spirit with us we can have confidence just like Elder Eyring said in Conference. We can know that we are following our Savior Jesus Christ and we can trust that we will receive all of the promises that our Heavenly Father has given us. We will trust them and they will trust us.
I love you all!!
Con amor,
Hermana Kinghorn
Monday, October 25, 2010
El Libro de Mormón
Mi querida familia y amigos,
We had a good week. On Wednesday we were able to invite V. to be baptized on the
27th of November and she accepted. She is a former investigator and has had a few baptismal goals in the last few years but has never been able to completely stop smoking. We love her a lot and her four children and we look forward to working with her to help her meet her goal and to feel the joy of being a part of the Gospel.
Elder Ringwood of the seventy toured our mission this week and we were able to have a zone conference with him on Wednesday. He and Elder Kikuchi have completely different styles but they both carry the Spirit with them. But suffice it to say that I was able to receive answers to some of the silent prayers in my heart and to be spiritually-refueled.
One of our less-active members that the sisters have been visiting for over a year and had only been to church once came to church last Sunday for the second time in a row! This week she even brought her two children to watch the Primary program. We are so happy for the habit that she is restarting in her life.
It has started to get colder here. The members are telling us that it is supposed to be the worst winter Seattle has had in 50 years. We're glad to have the warning and I am trying not to dread it too much as I get cold really easily, but I bought leggings last week and boots a few weeks ago and it has helped. I'm just so thankful that we have a car.
We were able to have a lesson with the Sanchez family this week. They are a part-member family and we will be having dinner with them every Thursday. The lesson was on temples and we were able to look through the new Temples Ensign with them and help them to understand the importance of temples and to see how beautiful they are. When we finished the girls did an art project by cutting out pictures of the temple from our old copies of the Ensign and making a poster with their goal to enter the temple one day.
I spent a lot of time reading the Book of Mormon this past week because we were supposed to finish it before Elder Ringwood came and I was behind. A thing that really stood out to me was in 3 Nephi 7:18. I love how it says that Nephi had a testimony so strong that it was not possible that the people could disbelieve his words. Wouldn't it be great to have a testimony that strong? I'm working on it. But even still the people were angry with him. Nephi was blessed to be able to witness the coming of Jesus Christ to his people. How wonderful it will be when we see our Savior face to face, a confirmation of a testimony and knowledge that we already hold.
I love you all very much. I know the Book of Mormon is a true witness of Jesus Christ. My daily study of it is changing me and I know that it will do the same for whatever person will read it with a sincere heart and the intention to act on what they learn. Have a wonderful week!
Con amor,
Hermana Kinghorn
We had a good week. On Wednesday we were able to invite V. to be baptized on the
27th of November and she accepted. She is a former investigator and has had a few baptismal goals in the last few years but has never been able to completely stop smoking. We love her a lot and her four children and we look forward to working with her to help her meet her goal and to feel the joy of being a part of the Gospel.
Elder Ringwood of the seventy toured our mission this week and we were able to have a zone conference with him on Wednesday. He and Elder Kikuchi have completely different styles but they both carry the Spirit with them. But suffice it to say that I was able to receive answers to some of the silent prayers in my heart and to be spiritually-refueled.
One of our less-active members that the sisters have been visiting for over a year and had only been to church once came to church last Sunday for the second time in a row! This week she even brought her two children to watch the Primary program. We are so happy for the habit that she is restarting in her life.
It has started to get colder here. The members are telling us that it is supposed to be the worst winter Seattle has had in 50 years. We're glad to have the warning and I am trying not to dread it too much as I get cold really easily, but I bought leggings last week and boots a few weeks ago and it has helped. I'm just so thankful that we have a car.
We were able to have a lesson with the Sanchez family this week. They are a part-member family and we will be having dinner with them every Thursday. The lesson was on temples and we were able to look through the new Temples Ensign with them and help them to understand the importance of temples and to see how beautiful they are. When we finished the girls did an art project by cutting out pictures of the temple from our old copies of the Ensign and making a poster with their goal to enter the temple one day.
I spent a lot of time reading the Book of Mormon this past week because we were supposed to finish it before Elder Ringwood came and I was behind. A thing that really stood out to me was in 3 Nephi 7:18. I love how it says that Nephi had a testimony so strong that it was not possible that the people could disbelieve his words. Wouldn't it be great to have a testimony that strong? I'm working on it. But even still the people were angry with him. Nephi was blessed to be able to witness the coming of Jesus Christ to his people. How wonderful it will be when we see our Savior face to face, a confirmation of a testimony and knowledge that we already hold.
I love you all very much. I know the Book of Mormon is a true witness of Jesus Christ. My daily study of it is changing me and I know that it will do the same for whatever person will read it with a sincere heart and the intention to act on what they learn. Have a wonderful week!
Con amor,
Hermana Kinghorn
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