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
