P Day - March 8, 2021

Email from Kaitlyn
Monday, March 8, 2021
Subject: WHATTA WEEK!

ANOTHER ONE DOWN ANOTHER ONE DOWN!! 

Another week down woot woot!! The thing I'm learning about missions is that everything is different, every single day. I actually really like it, but some weeks are better than others. Last week when I got here there was so much happening and so much to remember. This week, I'm slowly getting the hang of things and we had a lot of lessons cancel and other meetings too. It was a totally different week! It looks like the snow is melting really nice back at home though! :) I love Brooklyn's hat too! She's such a dork! I was thinking about her the other day and just how spunky she is, well she's really always been like that;) How's this last week been? How are your teeth feeling?? Haha! Okay so I have my little recap and then a pretty rad moment. I'll probably tell you more about it when I call you later today :) I don't know what the plan is for today quite yet but I can use the hotspot today so that's good :) We have zone pday today too so I might be calling a little later. I loved your email too!! You guys have been busy with furniture! That's good though right?? I don't know why it's funny to me that you threw an invite out to Chad and Julie but it made me chuckle haha!! They're interesting but they're pretty rad I guess haha!! I think Christian just has expectations of his mission, and he's a boy so he's automatically gonna be a little slower haha! ;) the good news is that it all has to be done at some point. You're gonna have to keep me posted on your lunch with Amy too! That's so crazy!! THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY!! I love that you stopped! Mine was sooooo worth it! The Thornells sounds like they could really turn into some really solid friends and get rid of the crazy Riddles. It's hard not to focus on them and all the crazy things they do, but it does stink because you guys did put so much work into them and tried to be nice. Sorry that blows! I have seen a few people going to Recife! I actually have a friend I went to school with who just hit her 1 year in February and just now made it back to São Paulo. The people that are headed there now have their VISA's though. I haven't heard anything in my email at all either,so who knows. I do know that I love it here and I'm just happy to be on a mission :) Brazil is so exciting, but I kinda hope that I get the language down a little more before I head out there haha! I did get the packages thank you!! We all love the snacks and I did get the letter stuff! I haven't sent my phone yet, we haven't been to the post office. I didn't back it up yet either so when I do send it, if you could do that that would be awesome! I have a super small little recap for Monday, but here's my little weekly recap! 

MONDAY 

 It was a really chill night, which I didn't mind actually:) We had another English class too so that was fun! I could never be a real teacher, but this isn't too bad. Her name is Stephane and she's super cool.  I don't have much to report for today, just that it was an epic first pday. Oh! I also had cheesecake for dinner so that was pretty rad;) 

 TUESDAY 

Today was the day with all the canceled appointmets!! We don't have too many people were teaching, but it's enough to take a big chunk of our day, so when they literally all canceled we had like 2 hours with nothing. We did some work for the Facebook page so it all worked out, but it wasn't too eventful. Sister G is so good and literally did a translation for a meeting. She kills the language! I wanna be as good as her one day :) We have zone conference tomorrow and we all have to prepare a talk about unity because its gonna be a random pick when we get there of who actually gets to talk. So while she translated, Sister Womack and I worked on our little talk (it's a 5-7 minute talk in English so not bad at all!) And just kind of hangout. She's really sweet but, she's an interesting first companion. I'll have to explain more later. 

I INTERRUPT THIS RECAP TO TELL YOU ABOUT THIS TRACY FACEBOOK LADY!! 

Okay so let me explain. So on Sunday we stayed to help with the patriarchal blessing, because there wasn't another sister there. I was kind of jealous of the Spanish sisters because they got to go help while I did coordination:// Later that night she messaged me on Facebook! I have no idea how she found me though. I put a screenshot in the drive but the conversation went way longer! This lady sent me 33 messages!! She laid out her whole life story! She's super sweet and just basically said how she felt connected to me and that she was so grateful for the work that missionaries are doing. It was a super cool experience, and I still don't really understand what it means like really means, but still a cool thing:) 

OKAY BACK TO MY RECAP! 

Tonight we did a mission cooking thing. We made shamrock shakes and some crinkle cookies. Both were mediocre at best haha! The whole mission was on a zoom and trying g to follow the recipes but we were also making dinner and it was a mess! Me and my 2 comps were trying to make dinner, the Spanish sisters were making the treats and the kitchen is like as big as a bathroom. It was a crazy hectic 30 minutes, but we got it :) anyways, I think that's all I have for tonight! 

WEDNESDAY 

Zone conference day!! I don't know if I mentioned this already, but I was asked to say the closing prayer:/ big yikes!! BUT when I got there, I didn't have to! Haha! I have no idea what happened, but I didn't have to. I also wasn't picked to give my talk on unity! Double win. I love the gospel but I'm okay not doing all that my first week;)  The zone conference was so good though! I LOVED it:) here are a few little highlights 

• President Mavromatis says that the body follows the head, if something in the brain stops working so does the rest of the body. The church is the head and we are the body. I thought it was a cool analogy 

• Bruce R. McKonkie (the ZL's are obsessed with him and the Mormon Doctrine) said that contention has no part or room in the gospel. We've been focusing a lot on unity and this really stuck out to me. The adversary creates contention and there really is no room in the gospel for that, its not what the gospel is about. 

• Sister Mavromatis said that in Genesis 1 is says that God says, 'it was good' God never said that anything was perfect. He said that it was good. We need to have joy in life and leave time to experience and enjoy the efforts that we have in life. 

• She also shared D&C 101:36. We need to manage our expectations in order to be able to find our own joy and enjoy our efforts. If our expectations are too much we will never be satisfied and then we can't enjoy our efforts. 

• One of the speakers quoted Lion King a lot too. He just said that we need to remember what Rafiki said to Simba, "I know your father, he lives in you" We need to strive to have the Spirit of the Lord in us. He also mentioned the quote about the past hurting, but we can choose to run or learn from it. We all have our own set of challenges, but it depends on how we face them to become a better missionary :) 

• President Mavromatis is an absolute Spiritual Giant too! I love him so much already :) He had a lot of topics but right off the bat, he said that miracles never cease to happen. It's so true! If we put in the work and have faith, the Lord won't hold anything back. 

• Unity in our companionship are key! This work is hard and there's a reason for companions. When we are unified with one another our teachings become more powerful. 

• He quoted Enos a lot too! Such a good book :) He talked a lot about Enos and how the joy he felt changed his life. He wanted to share that with the Lamanites, even though they were the enemy. He cried a mighty prayer, we can do that too! There is so much to learn from Enos :) 

I'm telling you, zone conference was too good! We're focusing a lot on unity this transfer (if you couldn't tell!) And each of these bullet points can be related to that! Such a cool experience :) I loved zone conference, like legit probably one of my favorite things I've done so far :) I also got to meet one of our friends, Leona! She's so so sweet! She's doing really well with English and she's really receptive to the gospel. We talked to her sobre A Palavra de Sabedoria (the word of wisdom ;) She's an avid coffee drinker but she understands the word of wisdom and is willing to follow it :) Oh! We also got a crap ton of referrals that we have to go through later too! So exciting, but also quite a daunting task. It's a good thing though. The ZL's also come down like all the time to talk to us after prime pros and always stay until 10:30pm. That happened today and then after they left we all started talking about Disney stars and ICarly haha! I have no idea how we got there, but we did and I laughed so hard haha! It could also be the fact that it was 11pm the last time I looked at the clock. Haha! I almost forgot! We went for a little walk today to get out of the apartment and I got to see the P.T Barnum Museum! It was actually really cool on the outside! I wanted to go in but it's closed to the public :/ There's pictures in the drive :)

THURSDAY 

Today was my 'mom's' 15 months!! Which by the way, you're by far better;) Andddd I hit my official one week mark!!  Kinda crazy that I've been out for a whole week! So many things happening today, well maybe not it just felt like it. Haha! I also did some curly girl method thing with my hair :)  Today was just weekly planning. Our planning took so long today too! We have 18 referrals so we gave to make a game plan for all of those new people too. We took a short break to go get some mochi for Sister Womack's 15 months. Mochi is this weird Japanese ice cream that's basically a ball of ice cream wrapped in rice dough. It sounds weird but it was actually really good. Haha! Sister G had to translate again tonight so it gave me some time to catch up on my Journaling, I've learned that it's better for me to start at night and if I don't finish I do when I first wake up. But last night I had from 6-9 to write so that was kind of nice. Today was really just full of planning for this next week and what to do with 18 referrals honestly. This week is way more relaxed than it was last week but I think it's because last week was transfer week. Anyways, I LOVE YOU MOM

FRIDAY 

District counsel day!! It actually was wayyyy less overwhelming this week. They told me that last week it was so crazy because of transfers and figuring all of that out. I did have to give my 5 minute talk on unity today. I'm learning that I'm not too bad at speaking haha! But you're definitely more eloquent than I am :) As part of an activity we had to hype eachother up in our companionship in front of everyone else too, so that was interesting. Both Sister G and Sister Womack said that I am very bubbly, outgoing, and wise. I don't know how I feel about that haha! We also dubbed ourselves the Powerpuff girls, and apparently I'm Buttercup (the green one) Also don't know how I feel about that haha! We have a good time though and they're both really sweet:) Today was full of contacts too! Basically it's just reaching out to people through text, messenger, whatsapp, just trying to get in contact with people. We're trying to grow our area and I'm determined to make this work! I was so so tired today too. I knew that missions were going to make me tired, but I don't think I'll ever catch up on this sleep. Anyways, it was a really good day! I know I've said this before, but I LOVE being a missionary. The Spirit that I feel and the promoting of the Lord are so much stronger now than ever. It's amazing :) I'm learning so much and I've already noticed things to change and it's just my first week, crazy! Nothing too crazy happened today haha! I didn't feel super hot after dinner though. A member made us this stuff called Mongu. It's like mashed up plantains with onions and fried cheese. I don't think my stomach appreciated that too much, but it's all good. Oh! Also, thank you for all the snacks! You're the best! 🥰

SATURDAY 

Oh my gosh so funny story!! Well actually I just wanted to say a HUGE thank you for all the snacks! We all love them :) okay but I do have a funny haha! So our packages get dropped off on the first floor by the mailbox right? Well there was this huge box that hadn't moved in a few days so today when we were leaving I asked if we should maybe take it to who it belongs to. Little did I know, it was from you!! It was more snacks and letter stuff haha! It's been there for like 3 days haha! But thank you so so much again! You're the best missionary mom ever! Well really just the best mom!:) I love you! Okay, I'll get into my day now! Today we had a lot of stuff for Facebook to figure out. It can be a little overwhelming, but we figured it out and it wasn't too bad. We have to start our campaign for General Conference and it's a while zone wide ordeal. We have 33 people in our zone, so its kind of a lot, but we got everything assigned and sent out so (hopefully!) it works out! We had a lot of meetings today too just try to figure it out too. They wanted us to share our strategies for posting and stuff because I guess the other admins don't have a real schedule. I don't even know the schedule yet haha! But it worked out and we're good now. Sister Womack had some pretty big family stuff happen today so we had to adjust a few things too. It's so crazy how much I already love her and how much it hurts to see her going through something this crappy :/ anyways, it was a lot of meetings today haha! We also had our Walk in the Light tonight. It was super good, but I was ready to be out of a dress! As I'm typing this I'm in little boy basketball shorts and man does it feels really nice to be out of a dress! We have to stay in our proselyting clothes until 9pm so sometimes it's a long day. It was a good day though, just a few little hiccups and lots and lots of sitting in meetings. I also realized today how much I'm like you haha! I very much like things clean and orderly and the other sisters do not to say the least. It's okay I just clean when they aren't looking;) I'll gladly take that trait from you though ;) How was this week?? I can't believe it's already Saturday again, I feel like it was just Sunday. How was Brooklyn's little birthday party thing for Madison and Luke? How's the weather? It looks so nice from your pictures. Anyways, I love you and thank you so so much again!

SUNDAY 

Oi!! Okay so super cool things happened today!! So we had our Stake Conference today! Ours was wayyyy better, mainly because you spoke, but they were just super monotone. It was good though, it talked a lot about the Spirit in the home. Pretty cool talks, but I definitely wanted to sleep haha! Today was another slow day honestly. Everyone in the apartment doesn't feel super hot, don't worry though I've got an immune system of steel! I also broke like every rule you've ever taught me haha! I had to message 5 random people on Facebook to start talking to. I have 2 guys that responded with 'hey beautiful' so that's happening. I guess it's normal to get that and marriage proposals too. Brazilians are NUTS!  At that point though we block them and send them to the AP's. BUT!!! Sister Womack did find someone and we called him and he wants to come to our church so that's cool! Okay, but I did have a really cool experience tonight. We were teaching this man named Diego, it's Matheus' friend from work. He hadn't been responding to calls so we had to stop teaching him, but today we checked up on him and he wanted to meet! Mom! I have no idea how I did it, but I was able to testify of the Book of Mormon and I even was able to tie in my story. Like my story and conversion story. I didn't plan on really sharing that, but it was like the Spirit took over and it just happened. It must've been the Spirit for sure because I don't even know how I said it in Português. But he loved it and was really receptive to it, like it turned the whole lesson around. THEN IT HAPPENED AGAIN!!! We had a lesson with Matheus and the same thing happened. I don't know what it was, but they both really liked it and wanted to talk to me and it was weird not gonna lie. I like to keep that stuff to myself unless I feel like its really needed. Needless to say, I did not feel like that was needed, but I'm not in charge either. It was actually such a cool experience but definitely not something I thought would happen, especially this early into the mission. Anywaus, pday was canceled, well district pday at least. I guess there are some other sisters who feel under the weather and don't wanna go outside, so who knows what tomorrow holds. I love you so so much and I can't wait to talk to you!  

Ps. I have more pictures this week with captions too! Hopefully it all works :) I'll just text you on messenger too! 

 

***** Mom's Reply to Kaitlyn*****

 

It sounds like you have had quite the week indeed. I am glad it isn’t the same and redundant. That would be difficult I think.

I was going to tell you a story from when my brother Rick was on his mission. There are psycho people out there trying to prey on missionaries like the one it sounds like from Facebook you have. Be mindful and careful. I know you will but just know..people are freaking NUTS!

I am glad your president and wife are good people. I imagine they have to be cream of the crop to be called to that calling. The Lord knows what He is doing for sure with those couples.

I want you to know how proud I am of you. I read this email and the feels that go through my body are just tender. You are a spiritual giant and I can tell that this is going to be the best experience of your life. You are touching my heart and joy testimony grows because of you. Can you imagine all the good to come in the next 16 months?! Can you believe you hit 2 months this week!!! Partay!

Anything I can do for sister Womack? Anything to help or maybe something I can send her as a thinking of you? The good news with her being a different kind of human is 3 months left is all for her right?  

***** Kaitlyn Reply to Mom*****

 

I like that everything isn't the same. It's kind of like a motivator to keep my going, I just like knowing everyday holds something different. 

People are NUTS! But luckly the church is very involved and we're smart and careful :) 

I love President so much! I have my meeting with him at some point this transfer and I'm excited to actually get to talk to him! 

I can't believe it's already been 2 months! That's just so crazy to me! I'm really trying to get the most out of this and to grow and stretch as much as I can. I hate to tell you but I might be a weird missionary haha! But I guess I could just be weird right? ;) 

Yeah you're right ;) I don't know what to do honestly. She got a message that her cousin committed suicide and no one knew so it was a total shock. We're very similar in the way that we don't like to put emotional baggage on anyone else and don't like to show emotion. She's still in a lot of shock and hasn't cried or talked about it much. We'll see what today holds with talking to her family. Maybe just some prayers would be beneficial? 

 

I can't wait to get a phone call today. I am looking forward to seeing her sweet face and hearing about what this last week entailed!

 

Anxiously Waiting,

Missionary Momma