We Were On The News!!! (Katelyn's Letter)

Hey y'allllllll,

Another fun week as always! Lots of cool people, lots of learning, lots of God's love, lots of ice cream, and lots of laughs!Seeds of Faith
Had some super cool experiences on exchanges this week! I went with Hermana Matern to her Spanish area so I was zero help for her lol! She's a queen. But the lessons that day were so so cool because I couldn't understand barely anything besides Jesucristo, hola and Jose Smith BUT I got to more closely observe body language during conversations! It's really awesome how open the people we taught got when talking about their testimony and what they have learned about Jesus! It was very emotional and the Spirit was SO STRONG in every lesson. Matern translated my testimony to a family at the end of the night too and that was super cool. The Gospel is just true y'all. You don't have to understand ANYTHING to feel that it is true and to benefit from another's testimony:) I learned how to recognize feelings more that day and to not lean on my own understanding so much, but on God's!

*Side note* I also learned that Hispanics LOVE to give you food lol. We got crackers, cakes, yogurt, grapes, ice cream... and that wasn't even at a dinner. These were people from lessons!! Lol! They are sooo kind--I love them.

Invitation
ANYWHO haha try to focus more on feelings you receive this week more than the words you hear. I promise you will feel the Spirit and God's love so much more strongly than leaning on your understanding of things:)

Pockets of Fun
- Email title: Last pday we played pickleball and went to Crazy Masons after. It's a fun ice cream place! After pickleball though, we talked to a news caster and sorry for the clickbait lol but she said she had just wrapped up her filming. We took a pic anyway even though we were super sweaty and gross for the mems. It was so cool! She had just started this new job after graduating college and was super cute and nice.
- Almost convinced the Elders to get their makeup done at Ulta last pday as well--bahaha...
- MY NEW FAV COOKIE.... MERINGUE COOKIES! Sister Struthers taught us how to make them and Y'ALLLL I ate almost the whole plate. They are so light and yummy. Let me know if you want some... I have the recipe lol.
- Another fun thing from exchanges: I was on babysitting duty for a couple lessons so the rest of the family could focus on what Matern taught. One boy literally brought ALL his toys and dumped them on me. Another SUPER CUTE little chubby girl had me put a bow in her hair and she painted my nails. It was a party. She also brought all her toys. Plus, in the middle of the lesson we heard this super loud screeching sound and the family just rolled their eyes since they knew exactly what it was lol but homie dragged a HUGE doll house into the living room. I was DYING! It was so funny. Cutest thing ever!
- MY NEW FAV PLACE.... BROOKGREEN GARDENS!!! We went with the Surfway Sisters a couple weeks ago and then Sister Oldham took us this week and y'allll it's epic! It has the biggest outdoor sculpture exhibit in the world, BEAUTIFUL gardens and nature, history museums and tours, a ZOO and a butterfly pavilion. It is basically the most peaceful, pretty place ever... I highly recommend it. God's creations are so awesome in every way. I am so grateful! Y'all are gonna get more pictures on top of the ones from last week lol cuz I love it so so much. But this time we learned more about the place's history as it used to be a rice plantation until after the Civil War and then mother nature took over. We went on a creek excursion where the guide told us all about slavery and growing rice. It's a very interesting place. I would look into it if you like history. It's cool and sad at the same time.
- Had an AMAZING lesson with Jenifer and she is so excited to read the Book of Mormon with her son!! She has had a realllyyyyyy rough life y'all but knows Jesus is there for her and her son and her daughter that died at 16 days old:,)
-Tyrael came to church for the first time to see Sister Moreno's farewell talk before she goes home. So SAD AND AWESOME at the same time. Church was so good y'all. I'm gonna miss Mo. She's a legend and has a fire testimony and outlook on life. I've learned a ton from her. I can't believe another transfer is almost done-- it went way too fast #liloandstitch

Southern Vocab
At Brookgreen Gardens there is a TON of history about slavery. There is also a lot of art and information about the founders themselves! Anna and Archer Huntington preserved the old plantation to create the beautiful place today! I took a picture of a sculpture they did together. Anna sculpted it and Archer wrote the poem on the back--so cute! ANYWAY, I learned a lot about slavery on the rice plantations. It was very very intense labor. It's pretty crazy what they went through.


Gullah: A distinct language of African dialects blended with English and French words. It was developed as a means for enslaved Africans to communicate among themselves and others on the plantation.

Brookgreen Gardens Fotos:)

Fishing at Otter Creek

So Owen had us getting up at the butt crack of dawn this morning (5 am!!!) and we were heading out by 6am to go to Otter Creek to go fishing. Owen got a pontoon boat a while back... he also invited Grandma and Grandpa to come along. I was super tired and would've liked to have stayed back and slept in a bit, and then go running in the cool weather, but I didn't feel like I could bail out on the invite to go fishing! McKenzie didn't want to go and stayed back... I wish I had too! It was fun though... I was just really tired and not expecting it to be the plan for that day! I think they had already planned on doing it as a family, so we just got invited to go along. They caught a good amount of fish, though! (We were told by the ranger at the entry station that we wouldn't catch much!) There was an algae bloom in the water, so all the fish were really slimy and dripping with it!! Eeew!! All the kids swam in it and I saw signs posted later (after we got the boat out) that there was no swimming due to all the algae! Yuck!! I would not have gone swimming because it was too cold, but they all did! It was so fun to see Jed home from his mission and Mary right before she leaves for Ghana, Africa! I love these kids!! Mary leaves in 14 days!! She's excited but nervous to go, as well...and I can't blame her! It was fun to visit with her and Jed too! We came back from the Lake around noon, because Luke had football practice. We showered and relaxed and later Bill helped put together a ramada Jenell bought from Costco for the front yard. He and Jed worked on it together, while Jenell and Owen removed the grass where it's going to go. It ended up being too big of a project to finish, so they had to stop. Everyone was super tired too! I wasn't much help as I was so so tired!! We came in for dinner and then watched a movie together-- Jungle Cruise. I fell asleep due to pure and utter exhaustion! I am so tired! (Did I mention that?!?) Tomorrow we drive home to AZ!! I am not ready to get out of the cool, nice weather, but I am ready to be in my own home and BED!!! It will be good to get HOME!!

 

Meeting the Monson's!!!

We packed up and checked out of the hotel this morning--sad! We headed up to Sandy to attend the homecoming of President and Sister Monson-- Katelyn's MP and his wife that just got home! It was perfect timing that we were in town and could go see it. It was PACKED and we were literally in the last row in the Cultural Hall!! After their talks I was looking around to see if I could find any of Katelyn's old companions and I recognized Sister Toomer so I walked up to her and gave her a hug! She’s so cute!! She loves Katelyn!! We were about to give up on meeting President and Sister Monson because there were so many people but when we opened the door of the gym to leave, they were right there in the hallway! So we said a quick hello and introduced ourselves and got a picture! We didn’t talk long because we didn’t want to take them away from all those 100’s of missionaries waiting to talk to them! They both gave powerful talks and bore powerful testimony of the Savior and His gospel. It was so fun to actually meet them and know they recently saw Katelyn and said goodbye to her! Toomer is the cutest thing, too! I’m glad we went!! Katelyn will be lucky they live close to BYU. She’ll be able to see them a lot and go to some fun mission reunions!! We went back to Brooke's apartment to pick up Paisley and say goodbye to Brooke before she had to leave for a RS presidency mtg. She asked Dad for a blessing, so he was able to do that too, before we left!  We got on the road and headed for Jenell and Owen's house . We ate Sunday dinner with them and Grandma and Grandpa-- it was a really fun evening. We all helped get dinner on and had a really nice visit. I enjoyed being outside and holding the puppies, too!  It was a beautiful and cool evening!  We'll spend a couple nights here and then head back to the oven on Tuesday--hahaha!!!

Beautiful Morning Hike!

This morning we got up and picked Brooke up and went hiking up Provo Canyon on the Squaw Peak trail. It was so gorgeous and pretty up there and the views of the valley were stunning! We kinda chilled for the afternoon while Brooke studied and took a couple quizzes. I walked over to the Wilk and looked around there for a bit and walked back to Brooke’s apt. She made us enchiladas and a yummy salad for dinner and it tasted soooo good to eat a home cooked meal! We watched a new series— a couple of episodes… hehe but I fell asleep! Dang it!! McKenzie stayed the night at Brooke's apt. and will go to church with Brooke in the morning and we went back to the hotel...

Soup Kitchen in Salt Lake!

This morning Mac and I went shopping at different stores but we didn’t find anything… McKenzie seemed to enjoy it though. It was fun to spend time with her. Brooke was in classes so we had to kill time. That afternoon we all went up to Salt Lake to volunteer at a soup kitchen! It was so fun! It was my job to actually hand the tray of food to the person and it was so humbling! These people looked so down and out, hot, tired, needing a shower, etc. Almost every one of them said thank you and I tried to smile and say hello to each one of them. It was seriously such a cool experience! I felt like I was standing in a holy place! Those people just want to be treated like they are normal people but are so used to being shunned by society. I’m so glad we went! Brooke had the assignment to go for a class and she brought us along hoping we’d be able to do it, and they let us!! Such a neat experience!! We had to get back quickly because Brooke and McKenzie had their Star Wars Trivia party with the ward so McKenzie could meet Jesse. It went well and it was super fun, but I don’t think anything will come of it. McKenzie liked Jesse and said she’d go out with him but there is just too much distance, I think, for anything to really happen. Dad and I watched a movie on Netflix at the hotel and Brooke brought her home after the party— which went until after 10 so I think everyone who came had fun!!

Provo City Center Temple!

Today was fun too… we went to the Provo City Center temple and did Sealings! It was so fun to be together and doing those! The Sealer got really emotional and couldn’t speak. After he regained his composure, he said that he felt a really sweet feeling that people were grateful for what we were doing! It was neat! After, we took Kaden out to dinner at Chili’s to thank him for helping us with the couches. He’s a lot of fun! He was especially good with McKenzie when he let her tell him everything about Star Wars and some games on her phone. He was a good sport! Jaidyn Romero was our server too! Kinda cool!! She’s so cute!! Another fun day in Utah!

Megan and Todd's Little Peanut...

Megan sent this picture in the group chat today. She had her first appt. today with her Dr. They got a strong heartbeat of 130bpm! This was fun to get today!!

 

Birthday #54 in Utah!!!

Today was my birthday— fun day! I got to go running this morning in temps lower than 70’s which felt sooo good! Brooke found a couch and loveseat for the apt. on fb marketplace so we went to check it out and it’s cute!! We went to see the new Mission Impossible movie which was awesome!! So good!! Then Kaden came over with his truck and helped us move the new couches in and take the old couches out and to DI. It was late by the time we ate dinner, but we headed up to Murray to Cheesecake Factory cuz that’s what I was craving! The food was sooo good and we had a nice dinner together! We found a Crumbl close by and got cookies right before they closed… yum! When we got back to Brooke’s house she put candles in them and everyone sang happy birthday to me! Then we watched my fav movie—Steel Magnolias. It was a fun and full day! Moving the couch was crazy— we are professional movers I guess cuz we always find lots of furniture to move!!  It was a fun birthday!

A General Authority Came, Foo Foo Hermit Crabs, and Walkin' with God:) (Katelyn's Letter)

I hope y'all had a fantastic week! I love Marion branch and Conway ward! It's been a party getting to know the people here and sharing God's word:)

Seeds of Faith
I had a super good conversation with my Mission President on Tuesday! I told him about some things that I wanted to gain more confidence in and he told me to read Moses 6 and 7. Honestly, I have never really read the Pearl of Great Price a whole ton so this study was very cool! He basically compared Enoch and Moses. Both were called of God to preach to the people. Moses told God that he wasn't a good speaker, and didn't trust God to make his ability to speak publicly strong. So God called Aaron to be his spokesperson. On the other hand, God called Enoch and Enoch eventually became the greatest speaker of his time and brought many people to God because he relied on the Lord to give him strength and trusted his potential. Enoch said:

"Why is it that I have found favor in thy sight, and am but a lad, and all the people hate me; for I am slow of speech; wherefore am I thy servant?"

God said:

"Behold my Spirit is upon you, wherefore all thy words will I justify; and the mountains shall flee before you, and the rivers shall turn from their course; and thou shalt abide in me, and I in you; therefore walk with me. And the Lord spake unto Enoch, and said unto him: Anoint thine eyes with clay, and wash them, and thou shalt see"

I learned that we need to trust our potential and let God strengthen our weaknesses and fill in the gaps of where we fall short! He is with us we just need to walk with Him. He calls each of us to a great work so we can walk forward with confidence to move mountains and see what He calls us to see! Opposition is a lot of times good! If we face it correctly it proves that we are on the right track, so let us trust and follow and see:)

Pockets of Fun
-Had my interview with President and Sister Hamblin--LOVE THEM! (As y'all already know haha.)
-Had a fun convo with Sister Hamblin too. I feel like we are besties now haha! They both feel like family away from home!
-Last pday was a busy one! Mo and I went to Sunset beach in North Carolina, then we went to Brookgreen Gardens. (It's the most beautiful place EVER with a zoo, gardens, art galleries and pretty statues.) I wanna go there 100 more times. It was cool. Definitely go there if you are ever near Conway. Then we went to Sparky's haha-- love that sketch gas station. I almost got pinched by a hermit crab there because yeah, they sell hermit crabs, ninja swords, weird candy and shirts of course, so it was an adventure for sure for sure! Then we got pancake tacos at IHOP which were HEAVENLY and did sparklers in the parking lot (since we missed our 4th of July celebration). One of the funnest pdays I've had on my mission. I love it here and I love the missionaries I serve with tons<3
- We got a car wash and I almost broke our car and the car wash track thingy 'cuz I couldn't put the dagum fancy(foo foo lol) stick in neutral. Our car is too high tech for me aha. So the workers were super patient. It was making a reallyyyyyy funny noise and we were all freaking out. It was hilarious looking back... but we got through the car wash and I remembered to roll my window up right before the water poured in, so 5 stars for me lol.
-Went on exchanges with Sister Holmquist in Surfside. It was super fun. The only food we had in the car was extreme sour warheads so that was fun haha. We met a super cool guy named Danielle who crashed his car going over 100mph and flipped 5 times not wearing a seat belt. He said that something was physically holding him against his seat as it was happening and he was able to walk out of the mangled car. Doctors and everyone said it was a HUGE miracle he survived. Since then he has turned his life around and we all felt so strongly that God led him to this meeting with us and He has sooooo much in store for him. It was the coolest thing!!!
-The dinner on the exchange was so fun with the Holdaways haha. We went out to eat (Surfside is a huge beach and tourist town). We waited 30 minutes to go into Judy Boones Buffet (10/10 recommend for authentic southern food) and let me tell y'all this family is so funny and confident. The first 5 minutes of conversation we were comparing our eye colors ahaha and someone said something about Kaden's eyes (I think he's like 16 or 17) and he straight up, not jokingly said, "That's 'cuz I'm sexy" bahaha! We made fun of him for it the whole night but this guy was flirting with literally everyone. A cool thing though-- towards the end of the night  I realized he had a speech impediment. He was so confident and comfortable in his skin that I didn't notice until way later. It goes to show that the more we accept ourselves and all our flaws and own them, the more people won't even notice them either because we are so positive and happy:) I learned a lot from this fun fam!!
-The elders dropped off a sketchy box on our porch and the note said, "Don't open this no matter what." We freaked out because we saw roachies (cockroaches/palmetto bugs) crawling out of it. We probs woke up the whole apartment complex lol 'cuz we thought they put bugs in the drawers!!! BUT thankfully they didn't lol! They wrote some sweet and encouraging notes that we needed to hear that day... they are the best. Love Elders Roe and Hicks! I'm grateful we get to share Conway ward.
- Had fun meals in Marion with the Hill fam and ate fried taters, chicken bogg and maters haha! Brother Hill also said my southern accent wasn't very good so I told him I would practice haha!
- The Cabanis fam is so cool and creative. Sister Cabanis works at a really nice ring making place that makes custom engagement rings and stuff like that so I talked to her for a long time about it 'cuz I want to learn more about that after the mission!
-Went to a baptism on Saturday for Mel Hamilton! Y'all need to look up his story! He was a member of the Black 14. I won't explain the whole story but BYU put out a documentary that y'all should watch if you're interested. The general authority that was involved in this story became really good friends with Mel so he came and spoke.... but Mel wasn't there:(  The night before, he was rushed to the hospital and wasn't able to make it the next day. We still had the program and Elder Nielson talked about how we are in God's hands and that Mel is in God's hands. He talked about how all of us has a story and have tragedies happen in that story, but we can turn to God to turn things around. It was a really bitter sweet day. No matter what happens, Mel has overcome so much to be where he is and he is in God's hands, as we all are!
-We had a luncheon after Branch Conference at church in Marion. It was so fun! Loreto, our bestie came and we got to connect with the ward more. It was awesome!
-Had like 5 dinners after that on Sunday lol 'cuz everyone wanted to feed us or got us food for our lessons haha! One of them was the Lanes--a super cute part member family. I love them so much and we laughed a lot with them:)

Southern Vocab
Foo foo: fancy

Pictures